I need to start off by saying that this is a second attempt at writing on this topic. Previous to this iteration, I had eight-thousand fabulous/inspirational/hilarious/perfectly woven together words filling a blank page. So smug at FINALLY writing something of merit (or so I thought), my blog sputtered, spun-out, & died on me. Hoping against hope that a draft had been saved (it hadn&apos;t), I&apos;m now left with four words on a mostly blank page and a belly-full of regret. C&apos;mon Cass, you know to hit &apos;save&apos; often. GAH!
With all of this said, please note, that this second attempt might be as good as the first, or simply okay. It might also turn out to be complete crap. You decide. Writing is my favorite indulgence and salve at present, so I&apos;ll try again. And, this time, hit save more often as we go along.
Last weekend was my birthday. For someone who doesn&apos;t really &apos;do&apos; birthdays (my own), I had a full 48 hours of spoiling, treats, selfish indulgence, and friend-and-family-filled frivolity that was truly magical. There were lots of laughs, frozen cocktails, and moments of introspection amongst the din of celebration.
At one point, mid-meal in a fave little cafe in Ponsonby, I looked around the table filled to the brim with my beloveds. My favorites. My soul-people. And, I took it all in. The sights, sounds, tastes, and slight cocktail-buzz of the moment filled my gooey heart to bursting-point. And, I hate to admit this, I cried. Happy tears.
You see, we all blaze our own paths in life. And, mine&apos;s been a trip – that&apos;s for sure. From a young age, I&apos;ve always done what&apos;s best for the people I care for. I&apos;ve toed imaginary lines drawn in the sand of societal propriety while calmly placing my own desires and wants to one side to ensure the happiness, growth, and fulfillment of those around me. I&apos;ve always grown &apos;older and wiser&apos; with each year that passes – but not this year.
This year has been a time to find my feet. To walk, crawl, run, stumble, jump, and skip as far as I can… even if my feet have had to go backwards or sideways to eventually end up moving me forward.
Getting all introspective, I&apos;ve decided that my next trip around the sun will not be about my feet anymore (at size 11, they&apos;re big enough, thank you!), it&apos;ll be about finding my wings and growing older wildly. This change in the way I take myself into each new day has been a long time coming.
I&apos;ve spent a lot of time coming to terms with me. Learning to not just like who I&apos;ve become over the years – but to love who I am now, and who I will be. All awkwardness, fear, hesitation, and bold brazenness that I am, I will accept and wildly put out into the universe with hopes of connection, laughter, and growth.
With so many lessons under my belt over these past 36 years, I&apos;ve got a few tips/life hacks to share with you if you&apos;re looking at ways to genuinely get super comfy in your own skin (and I mean wearing-life-like-a-fluffy-smurf-onesie-comfy.) A lot of what I&apos;ve learned is fairly cliche/common sense. But, like most things, it&apos;s easier to understand HOW to do something, than it is to actually get moving on DOING the thing.
When you start DOING, you open yourself up to failure and hurt. And, the journey to accept and share your imperfections will be a tough one at times. Shining brighter in a beam of vulnerability is, in my mind, better than staying locked up behind a mask of intrusive perfection. I hope you get something out of the below – and maybe even the above – and if you&apos;ve got your own life lessons for growing older wildly, please let me know what they are!
How wishy-washy does this sound? Seriously. But, it&apos;s true. There are times when we all have to actively try (super hard) to quiet our own inner-voice. You know the one. It&apos;s tinged with self-doubt and criticism and will only ever pull you down. But you need building up! To start moving forward, you need to be your best version of you, while accepting imperfections are just part of being human. Whether it&apos;s finding time in a day to meditate, looking at yourself in the mirror and finding something you love about your look each morning, or simply maintaining physical fitness – just do something positive for you. Guilt-free. No interruptions. Just know that you&apos;re on the road to happiness when you&apos;re comfortable being unapologetically you.
Team, it seems so simple, but it&apos;s not. The easiest way to be free of guilt/anger/regret is to own your mistakes . We all fuck things up. We all make mistakes – most of the time, unintentionally. Putting ego and pride aside is hard. Really hard. But once you start to simply say "I&apos;m sorry." (and mean it) you&apos;ll find your relationships become stronger, your foundation of support unmovable. In the same vein as apologizing, comes forgiveness. When someone else owns their mistakes, remember how you&apos;d like to have your words of contrition received – and receive theirs in kind. We&apos;re all fighting our own battles. Forgive, let go, say you&apos;re sorry… and live happier for it.
This has been something a lot of us struggle with, accepting praise. From childhood, I&apos;ve had to consciously tell myself to just say "Thank you." when someone says something nice to me or about me. The truth of the matter is that, more often than not, when someone praises or compliments me – I feel the need to belittle myself and my achievements in an effort to dampen them down, to seem less braggadocious. Where did this ugly habit creep into my world? At what age or juncture in our personal journeys do we learn that accepting praise can only happen if we ensure we shine – but not too brightly. I&apos;m not sure of when or how, but one thing I am certain of is this: it&apos;s taken a while to poo-poo this approach to accepting and being thankful for praise. I am unrepentant in my ability to accept praise gracefully these days. Older, wilder, and thankful for kind words and gestures of others.
Obviously, not literally. As far as life strategies go, learning to silence the doubters, dickheads, and critics is a imperative to being comfortable and confident in your own being. It&apos;s also the hardest strategy to master, because it means not only silencing the opinions of others – but silencing your own inner-voice of doubt. In the past few years, my life has been turned upside-down, shaken, and then (still in disarray) placed neatly back right-side-up again. With all of the topsy-turviness of life, I&apos;ve learned to quiet the opinions of people who don&apos;t bring growth, kindness, or positivity to my life. It&apos;s almost as simple as throwing a switch and deciding not to give a damn about someone&apos;s opinion of me. And, once you find that &apos;off&apos; switch, it&apos;s just so much easier to just place everything that doesn&apos;t grow you in a Fuck-it bucket and move on. Critics? Who are they anyhow…
Seriously. I&apos;ll keep this short and sweet. Wear what makes you feel good. Because, when you feel good you can take on just about anything.
Change is the best part about getting older. Call it evolution, growth, finding yourself… whatever you name it, it&apos;s change. And, it&apos;s beautiful. How boring would it be to live life without seeing/doing/experiencing something new? Beauty is in the small moments, the big KAHUNA about-faces, and in the cracks that let light and color into dark times. Don&apos;t fear the only consistent thing in life, learn to embrace it. And, love it. It&apos;s completely okay and normal to be afraid of upsetting the rhythm of life when you just start getting comfortable with routine. It&apos;s also completely okay to wait for the roller coaster to hit the pinnacle of the highest drop and throw your arms up and head back… taking in the force of free-falling with rapture and intrigue. No matter where you are in your journey, be all there. And, change it up a bit. If even just for giggles.
There you have it. A few life lessons as told by someone whose opinion is no more important than the next person in line. 36 trips around the sun have taught me to look at life as a joyous, sometimes sorrowful, journey. A precious gift to unpack, enjoy, and to dive into headfirst. Here&apos;s to growing older wildly. And loving every hedonistic, gentle, catastrophically amazing moment of it.
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