THE TWENTIES

Not the roaring kind, but rather the angst-ridden late adolescent version.  Like, per this post and for the sake of continuity, say 20, 21, 22 and 23.  I recently got into a fascinating conversation with some of the young adults in the community I coordinate about the ideas in this book, which a lot of millenials seem to be consuming with great gusto.  It's basic message is don't f*** around in your twenties because it is the defining decade, the decade when you lay the foundation for the rest of your life.  You can get an abbreviated version by listening to the author's TED talk here.  We watched it at a retreat with some young adults and it got me kind of riled up, to be honest. While I support a lot of what Meg Jay says, I also feel like it encourages a sort of control and judgement about how you "make" a life.  I'm still trying to sit with all the reasons it nettled me to figure out which ones are worthwhile, but in the meantime, I thought others might enjoy it and would love to hear feedback. 

The one thing I can say about my twenties for sure is how much fun I had with my friends, none of which I would take back for a second.  I may not have been serious or focused enough to have EVERYTHING by Meg Jay standards, and so the foundation I laid in my twenties may end up having me looking something like this in my sixties-

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

but hey, it could be worse.  I came across the above quote from Emerson the other day and it pretty much summed up the beauty of friendship to me as I approach my next decade.  Old friends, new friends, lots of work, the joy of family, and stupidity to last a lifetime....