26 for 26
the second part of the birthday series
It’s okay to cry for no reason. Sometimes, you should. Usually, you should.
Things that hurt once typically don’t go away. It just begins to hurt differently. Maybe in a more manageable way. But still, it’s okay if it still hurts.
My body is 26, but my heart feels younger. I think it stopped changing at the age of six. I think that’s a good thing.
The world is for people, but it’s also for animals, the seasons, wind, rain, dirt, mist, love, etc.
Making the bed every day makes a difference.
Don’t be afraid to care. Caring is good. It just means you exist.
Have at least one kind of frozen vegetable in your freezer. It comes in handy more than you’d think.
Listen to people when they tell you they love you. Listen to people when they tell you they miss you.
You know where you’re meant to be, so go there.
I think these past years I’ve mastered the ‘art’ of steel-like protection. I think the next few years I’d like to try to make myself as soft and gushy as possible.
I don’t want to be insecure, and for the most part, I don’t think I am. But I think there will always be that small sliver of self-uncertainty that I won’t be able to shake. And maybe true confidence is just a matter of accepting that.
Having an absurdly large keychain on my keys is the most practical thing about me. That, and the fact that I’ve successfully mounted a TV.
Forrest is still, and will always be, more popular than me.
I want to focus less on trying to be pretty. Or rather, to appear pretty.
I think I need to start swimming again.
What was attractive to you at 22 will disgust you at 26. For the most part.
I know I don’t move through the world as a child anymore, I just don’t know when I will start to feel like I’m moving through it as an adult.
Folk music isn’t boring and it’s okay to like it despite what your ex may have told you!
There is so much love I’ve yet to experience. I should know, because between this time last year and now, I’ve experienced mountains of love I simply could not have anticipated.
Listen to the moon as she whispers to you at night.
There is no need to rush things.
Though there is also no need to waste time on ‘x’ thing that seems right, or convenient, or noble, or what have you.
Call your mother!
Defensive is the most oxymoronic thing a person can be.
Take out your headphones and listen to the world; there is something it wants to tell you.
Home is in your heart, and it will guide to if you learn to discern what it’s saying.
Much love!
A 26-year-old Kailie