30 Things

A milestone, a round number, a grown-up age. Today I am 30 years old.  

I recently read "30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She’s 30" by Pamela Redmond Satran, first.published in Glamour Magazine in 1997. You can read that list here.  Or you can read my own list below.


30 Things that I may or may not have and may or may not know on my 30th birthday:

1. An established love of plane tickets (one might even say an addiction.)
2. Some enduring activities that bring me joy - knitting, walking, boats of all kinds.
3. A home in a beautiful place - and I have also lived in several ugly places, so I know what it takes.
4. How to listen to my gut - never trust someone's decisions only on the basis that he or she is older or wiser or more experienced. I once drove all night in a snowstorm because I didn't speak up!
5. Knowing what looks good on myself - Okay, sometimes I get this right, sometimes I just stay home.
6. That exercise, eating well, and keeping house are ongoing necessities but do not have to be hellish tasks - a little music might even make it fun.
7. Some good friends that I can reconnect with as easily the next day or after two years apart.
8. How little I know. And how little I want to know about what happens next and how it all ends up. And how many opportunities I have to learn and explore and find out.
9. That it isn't always happy endings.
10. How it is important to wash my face and brush my teeth each day, but that's about it. And the world won't end if I forget a day.
11. An adult relationship with my family - the ones I get along with, I see more of, the ones I don't, I try to sit far away from at family dinners.
12. A good recipe for cooking swiss chard, in spite of my reaction at age 8.
13. That I believe in the sanctity of life and my God has a sense of humour.
14. That meals taste better when eaten with others.
15. How integrity and self-respect are everything, whether I start from the bottom or the top.
16. How the whole world is better when I've had enough sleep. And on that note, remind me to never make major life decisions during PMS or exam periods.
17. That I can survive VERY STRESSFUL THINGS, even if it doesn't feel like it going in.
18. A home is not a home without a bookshelf
19. A deep pleasure from sunset drinks and appetizers.
20. That I am not an island - reaching out for support is not weakness, but intelligent.
21. That I don't like polish on my fingernails, or when they grow too long.
22. How sharing life with a partner is magnificent.
23. That listening to other people's stories, particularly those of my relatives, is often fascinating.
24. How Christmas and birthdays come every year, so it's not worth worrying about making it perfect.
25. That saying thank-you and smiling goes a long, long way, baby.
26. That I am fallible and you are too, but that's okay - the pressure is off.
27. A dislike of beets or poppy seeds, but the ability to eat them with grace nonetheless.
28. Some voices that have stayed in my head a long time, (yes, I hear voices...) particularly my mother's, my junior high basketball coach, my elementary school swim instructor's.
29. That "how much is enough" is a more complicated question then you would think.
30. That I still have more than half of my life left and let the adventures begin!