Notes To My Younger Self is a series of posts by bloggers helping spread the word about The Post College Survival Kit, by Sarah from Yes and Yes. We learned the hard way so you don’t have to! You don’t have to wait till your thirties for a better job, a cuter apartment, financial stability, better relationships + friendships.
When Sarah asked if I'd participate in her "notes to my younger self" blog crawl, in which bloggers lend advice to their 22 year old selves, I immediately said yes. But then I realized that I'm almost just as clueless about life at 27 as I was at 22. So my main advice to 22 year old me is to take chances, be adventurous, make mistakes, jump at opportunities and live life so fully that at 27 I'd be a wise old soul who could dispense sage advice and smile fondly at her past foibles.
Dear 22 Year Old Kate,
Oh, Kate. You need to stop being so horribly shy and scared to live. It's a lot easier to break that mold now, it's a lot harder when we're getting closer to (gasp!) thirty. Talk to other humans, it's not that bad. Go outside more. Learn to drive and then drive somewhere far away. Take day trips alone, make friends and take day trips with them, too. Go to the movies once in a while. Try new foods. Find a cute, smart guy and ask him out. It won't be the end of the world if he says no.
Don't drop out of college. Yes, art shows are starting to take off and it looks like a college degree won't be necessary but believe you me, it is. Even if we got lucky & art supported us forever (sorry to break it to you, it won't) it wouldn't hurt to have that degree under our belt. You were SO close to finishing! Just do it!
Be happy with what you have. You'll spend most of your twenties wishing for something better, but in reality you're a pretty lucky duck. You have a family that loves you, a roof over your head, food on the table, adorable cats, and basically all of your favorite shows are available to watch instantly on Netflix, so what on earth are you moping about?
Try fruit flavored ice creams. It's a crying shame that I didn't get to discover their gloriousness until I was 26. Fix that immediately! Turn on NBC on Thursday and watch The Office. It's going to be your favorite show when you discover it years from now. It's one of the few things in this world that makes us smile no matter how bad the day is -- so it should really be a part of your life much sooner.
Learn the correct way to address your former self in a letter, and which tenses to use when talking about our life, your life or my life. Trust me, it'll come in handy in about five years.
It takes us a while to get to the point where I can say this but... I kind of love you.
xo Kate
