Day 9: December 20, 2013

Wake up, and remember an email you sent seven years ago. An email you sent to all of your family and friends of the time. Remember it being hilarious! And witty. And all kinds of smart.

Good thing you saved it.

Upon reading the seven-years-ago email, however, you remember significant disappointment. You’ve remembered this email incorrectly.

It’s not hilarious. It’s painfully honest about things you shouldn’t have said aloud much less committed to writing for all your family and friends to read. Luckily, they still think it’s hilarious (but not in the way you wanted it to be).

Write a new letter, because you’re better at it now. (Or at least, you hope.)

Remember the art of editing, and try to save the personal information for your blog and essays (because that seems more appropriate somehow).

Make a list of all the people that matter to you. Get email addresses for as many as you can. Click send.

And then find a typo.

Translation: Twenty-five is realizing that every seven years, you will look back at a younger version of yourself and cringe. Because she was so young. And naïve! But she’s always been a writer, so her damage is out there, in print.

It’s okay, because 25 is not letting that stop you from putting it out there. Because how else will you learn? Also, editing is a beautiful thing.

(“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose Wisely”—a wooden plague in my living room.)

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Day 10: December 21, 2013

Get all your packing done by 4pm instead of 4am.

Translation: Twenty-five is packing before “the last minute.” Congratulations, sometimes 25 actually means being an adult.

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Writer’s Note: This post is part of a larger series called “Learning Twenty-Five.”