Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Thirty Nothing

Here I am, back to school once again, but promise to refrain from using that as the title of this entry. I'm starting this week of school with a new sense of excitement, owed completely to the events of this Labor Day weekend. I kicked off the weekend with my 30th birthday on Friday. It started off with 8:30 am epidemiology class in Baltimore with people I barely know and ended with dinner in Philly with my family (well, really with a weird aloe vera cocktail with my brother and others at a bar, but still). Being in a completely new city, school and field brought up even more "what the hell am I doing with my life" thoughts than most birthdays do for me. It didn't help that this one ended in a "0". Nor did it help that I heard this depressing new Aimee Mann song on the radio on my way home from dinner. (Okay, it's a year off, but still quite apropos). Oh, and seeing my high school boyfriend in the NY Times wedding section this weekend-- yeah, that didn't help either.

The next day I went to New York and hung out with some of my closest friends, most of whom I hadn't seen in a long time. Spending time with people who know me well and are for the most part in the same place in their lives as I am was exactly what I needed. It was totally comforting and reassuring that what I am doing, this change, is the right move. In fact, as it turns out, almost all of my friends are going through their own career changes these days. Some are thinking of switching completely, some just got laid off, some are starting to apply for more school and some are tweaking their current careers. And the friends who are still in entertainment all seem to have the same doubts I had when I was working in TV. Since I left LA, I haven't really been around friends who are dealing with the same career changes as me. Aside from-- and maybe even more important than-- the fact that I could relate to my friends on the career-change level, it was just so nice to be able to drink and relax and laugh and make fun of people with some of the most important people in my life. It made turning 30 nothing, which is exactly how it should be.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

it was so great to have you in town!!