I’ve been asked, as I’m sure everyone has, how does it feel to FINALLY reach 30? It’s been an age I’ve heard about a lot in my twenties–– 30 is the liberator of all the growing pains and emotional ailments that scorch the landscape of our messy twenties.

I sure hope that’s the case, I’m only a few days in. There are so many misconceptions around the myth of 30. This piece, which I sent out for publication years ago (I wrote it when I was not yet 28) was published in Thought Catalog. To my amazement, I discovered it was published by getting an email from a reader who resonated with it. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes, my reaction was obviously Julia Roberts winning her first Oscar.

Truth is though, it isn’t my best essay or my favorite, but it’s one of my most honest ones. I hesitated sharing it because on some level we all want to put “our best face” forward, to live up to the Pinterest-worthy feeds we perpetuate and the ideas of who we want to be in our mind… And that sounds nice and tidy but it’s not real.

Real life begins the moment you start accepting and flowing instead of fighting what is.