O.G.

I’m starting to feel old in every way possible. Print suddenly seems impossibly small. I have no context regarding current celebrities. And, I’m starting to forget what it’s like to be young with less than good judgment.

With age comes wisdom, one hopes. And, I’m glad for that wisdom. I’m thankful for less angst, less anxiety, for being able to see things in abstract.

I spent a lot if my life wanting to be taken seriously. For years, I was just a goofball or a bossy chick, or too young and inexperienced to be heard.

These days, a lot of that is changed. I’m still a goofball, but I know now to not tolerate disrespect. I try not to be judgemental; I often fail. I use experience as much as empathy, but still get annoyed with the younger generation at times.

I recently told a young cook that mistakes are fine, as long as you’re learning from them. It’s that failure to learn that pisses me off. When I see poor judgment, I wonder if those mistakes are part of a learning process for those perpetrators. Sometimes, I’m impatient for that process to occur.

It seems that a big part of growing up is facing our failures. I’ve had a lot of failure. I just needed to figure out how to apply those failures to the life I live now. I still overwork, but I try to do it in a more balanced way. My whole persona is not wrapped up in my job title. I just try to do what I do as well as I can.