Socially Constructed Rites of Passage

A final shot of my U.S.-sanctioned underage self
... in a new dress & shoes from Asos!

I'm sitting alone in my townhouse bedroom with the lights low, wearing a new black dress with gold-beaded straps underneath blankets.  I'm listening to a beautifully morose Lykee Li on spotify, sipping on a whiskey sour made with Red Stag and homemade sour syrup, and there are traces of this past Halloweekend strewn about: angel wings, sequins, glitter, a cat mask, and a Pokemon mudkip.. on a leash.  I can't decide if this is amusing or pitiful-- probably a conflation of both.

Although I don't know my actual time of birth, I'm turning 21 years old in less than two hours.  And more than anything, I feel tired.  It's been a long weekend, and several weeks of hype building to this rite of passage, mainly in the form of me grumbling when all my friends bailed on parties and headed to the bar, while I was left behind.  To a definite degree of selfishness, I have begged as many as possible to join me tonight in my first trek to the Hoot Owl, despite A) it's a Sunday night and B) it's below freezing temperatures!  Ha, we'll see; I'm not admonishing any of them if they decide otherwise..!

I haven't given the proper reflection to my mere lifetime, but my dad has pointed out more than once the outstanding experiences I have collected!  I wish I could articulate every moment, travel, turn, taste, project, game, person, place that has enriched, ruptured, and altered my life.  Before I went to China, I never really bought into serendipity, but more and more I believe that things happen and there are people in this world that we intersect for a reason.

Against the daily grind and flitting emotions, I know that this life has been good to me.  And I trust that it will only accelerate, and excel, from here.

Listening: "Tonight" by Lykke Li