Kenia in the Middle

Next month I’ll be 22.

As the weeks this summer have gone by, I’ve truly felt myself getting older. Looking back on past birthdays, I’ve always thought, Wow I’m getting older. However, this year is different. For the first time, I feel a genuine sense of getting older as the next year keeps approaching. I know to some that may sound silly, given that I’m still in my early 20s. But to me, it’s a new perspective, a bigger one.

I recently went through, and am still navigating, a situation in my personal life that required a lot of emotional energy and, honestly put me through what at the time felt like hell. It tested me and my resilience, but at the same time it’s taught me a lot about myself and the love I’m capable of giving to others.

Every year, I feel I learn more and more about myself and who I am meant to become. What I’m growing into and, at the same time, what I’ve grown out of.

It’s interesting to me how you can once know everything about yourself, and then a few months go by and suddenly there is so much more to know. Lately, I’ve thought more about the idea that everything I am, I already possess, but I will not find it within me till the time is right. Something about that feels serendipitous.

My mother taught me that word, and ever since, I’ve always thought there was such beauty behind it, as cliché as that is to say. The idea that something meaningful can find you without knowing you were even looking for it. I think growing into who you are is somewhat similar. You’re bound to meet many versions of yourself as life gives you the reasons to find them.

I’m excited to grow up some more this next year. Definitely not because I’m in any rush, but I’m curious as to what I’ll learn about myself by the time 23 comes around.

I’d love to hear how anyone reading spent their 22nd year of life. What did you learn? What did you grow into? What should I take to heart?

xx,

Kenia