ello petals! This post is part of a post-college advice series led by the super excellent Sarah from Yes and Yes. Notes To My Younger Self is a blog crawl helping spread the word about The Post College Survival Kit. It’s basically a way for us to share our knowledge about how to survive your 20s and come out smiling at the other end. Here are my notes to my 22 year old self.
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Be generous with your eggs; don’t put them all in one basket
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The theory
There’s no point in spending four years studying Interpretive African Ice Dancing when no one is employing Interpretive African Ice Dancers. By all means study something that you love but make sure your education has enough of a back bone to support you when an economic crises all but obliterates the entire African Ice Dancing industry and you’re left with a degree that is completely redundant and useless.
The practice
I studied journalism at university but I simultaneously studied a Bachelor of Education. I’ve been able to earn some pretty decent casual cash in between building up my writing portfolio and launching a freelance business/career. I only teach now because I like the security of regular income and I teach just enough (1 or 2 days per week) to cover my rent in an emergency but I’ve been earning a full-time income from my business for almost 2 years now. Consequently I’m one of the most financially stable freelancers that I know. I’ve watched a good portion of my friendship group go back to university to study as adults because their Bachelor of Arts doesn’t actually qualify them for anything and all of them wished they’d done it sooner.
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If a guy likes you, he’ll call you
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The theory
You met this great guy on Saturday night. There were diamond sparkle unicorns in your eyes and when he pressed his erection against your thigh you knew it was true love. You went home with him, you boinked all night and then three days later he hasn’t called. You subsequently spend the next three weeks with your face wrapped around a bottle of Smirnoff and have sex with lots of ugly guys to ‘punish’ him.
The practice
I was, and continue to be, utterly gobsmacked by how simple relationships are if the person that you’re with actually, genuinely loves you. I dated a series of uber douches before Mr Smaggle and it took me a long time to be comfortable with how available, attentive and non-assholey he was. I used to invent all these ‘issues’ that the guys I dated had – he’s been broken, he has emotional baggage, he’s scared about getting hurt. They were all bollocks. They just actually, genuinely didn’t like me very much. If you have to wonder if the person you’re dating likes you, then they probably don’t. True love is actually extremely rare and I don’t take my good fortune for granted. I’m not better or more awesome than anyone who hasn’t found an amazing partner – I’m just extremely lucky. However, I know that if I didn’t have the good fortune to meet Mr Smaggle I certainly wouldn’t be wasting my time with people who treated me like trash. I treat myself very well thank you very much and I’d rather date myself than mess around with dickheads who don’t give a toss about me.
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Get into good health habits early
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The theory
When you’re young, you have the ability to bounce back from bad life choices like a fat guy on a trampoline. You can get 2 hours of sleep and rock up at your hospitality job looking like roses and youth shat all over your face. You can go to a music festival wearing little more than underwear, get that special kind of sunburn that worries your mother and your skin will literally replenish itself. You can even have a few social cigarettes on the weekend and jump up the next day and run a 10km race. You can probably also eat any old junk that you like and still be able to fit into your favourite Levis you’ve had since you were 16.
The practice
Now I certainly haven’t been perfect during my 20s (far too many sleepless nights drinking on freezing cold balconies, a few to many social cigarettes, letting my nose get sunburnt way too often) but I’m in much better shape than many of my peers. I have a super shit metabolism so I’ve been counting calories and exercising like a demon since I was 16 which has made the transition into adulthood a lot easier. Lots of my metabolically blessed friends are freaking out that their usually obedient bodies have started ignoring them and stopped metabolising calories like they used. Old habits die hard, so get them set in stone as early as you can. And for goodness sake wear sunscreen, don’t smoke, drink sensibly, eat green things and get up off your toosh and get some exercise. It’s not negotiable.
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