Another Year Older

It’s my 26th birthday, and I’ve decided to start writing again. Will it be hard to get back into the hang of things? Yes. Am I going to do it anyway? Absolutely.

Year 25 was probably one of the best and hardest years of my life. So much happened, and so much of it was when I was on a hiatus from writing and posting here on Mentally Sailing. I experienced absolute joy and unfathomable love when Steve proposed. I felt the dagger of loss pierce my heart, once again, when a friend passed. I felt love and adoration for my incredible husband and everyone who showed up to celebrate our marriage a week later. We saw and explored new places, such as Hawaii, Greece, a snowy California, and another cross country road trip. Life kept going, regardless of how I felt or what was happening in our lives. And so, another year of my life begins, and I cannot wait to experience it.

To put it simply, you’ve probably missed a lot, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to fully encompass the multitude of things that have happened in the last year. I’ve not written much more than jumbled thoughts on paper for the last four months since we’ve posted anything, but here I am again, spilling my guts to a google doc that will be seen by whoever’s out there that’s still eager to read our sporadic, crazy adventures.

Last night, before going to bed, I thought about sitting down to write. The first line that came to mind was, “On the eve of my 26th birthday…”. Does this make you think of a novel of some sort? Because it absolutely made me feel like the main character in a coming of age/mid-twenties book where the protagonist is finally figuring out life. Needless to say, I did not sit down and write that. Instead, I put it on my mental to-do list that I would post a blog today. Plus, I’m not the main character in a novel and I definitely don’t have it all figured out. In fact, I’m loving not having it all figured out. I mean, what’s the big deal anyway? We live, we love, we die. I don’t mean this in a negative way at all, even though it may read that way. I actually think it’s freeing to think of life in that sense. In the end, there are no rules. We have this autonomy over ourselves to do what we want. Maybe we work toward our dream job, or travel the world as a vagabond, or find a place and build a home, or fall in love. Maybe, we do it all, or maybe we don’t. Regardless, it’s always our choice. 

Over the years, I’ve realized that change is inevitable. Even though “nothing is certain but change” has been preached to me my entire life, I still never fully grasped the concept until I graduated from college and lived alone. Since then, things have yet to stay the same.

I learned that quitting a job that wasn’t right for me was okay. Moving onto a boat with my partner was okay. Not working for a while, enjoying writing, and working on the boat all day was okay. Living a life that is not “normal” is okay. Everything, as long as it serves you and you choose to do it because it’s what you want, is more than okay.

And so, we’re living, for the things that make us happy, the things that make us laugh and cry and love so hard our hearts hurt. I don’t believe that our life will ever be “normal”, but then again, I don’t wish to live a normal life.

I want extraordinary, wild, crazy adventures with people that I love more than life itself. I want to fill my cup and have friends that recharge me. I want to squeeze my family and friends into a big hug when I haven’t seen them in months. I want a love that picks me up, spins me around, and then grounds me before I get too dizzy.

I am so incredibly lucky, at 26, to have these things, these people, and to feel so full so young.

So, happy Tuesday, readers. Thanks for being a testament of the wild adventures we’ve experienced so far, and for being a part of the life that fills my cup so much it’s absolutely overflowing.

Cheers,

Skye