Ain't nothing but a number

On Monday I turned 30.

It's funny that as you age milestone birthdays go from being exciting, like becoming a teenage at 13 or old enough for booze at 21, to something you are supposed to dread, like leaving your twenties for the "big 30." Seeing as I can only speak on those birthdays leading up to 30, I'd like to turn the tables on age and embrace it.

Here is a self portrait I took for a photo class assignment in college at age 20. I am not sure what I was "trying to say" when I made this picture but it is interesting to come across it ten years later.



As I look back at the 20-year-old me, I'd like to give her some simple advice, perhaps the same advice I'd give myself now: 

- Be a good person, even to a stranger

- Appreciate what you have

- Work hard

- Learn

- Laugh

I've lived a lot of life in the last 30 years and in an optimistic stance, I can't wait to see what the next 30 have in store.

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