The Princess Bride (1987) dir. Rob Reiner
Halle with a 'Fro 😍 ✨️
Enikő Katalin Eged (Hungarian, b. 1992, Budapest, Hungary) - 1: Untitled 2: I don’t want to fight anymore, 2022 3: Imaginary Horses, 2022, Graphic Arts
lindsay lohan taking photos of the paparazzi with a disposable camera, 2004 📸
“The first feminist gesture is to say: “OK, they're looking at me. But I'm looking at them.” The act of deciding to look, of deciding that the world is not defined by how people see me, but how I see them.”
― Agnès Varda
That post about 30 year old coming of age stories?
I’ve been thinking about it all morning. What would the plot points be for that? What makes a 30 year old coming of age story?
Old folks sound off in the comments
This article about a woman who went on a life changing lesbian cruise.
Rather than beginnings like teenage coming of age stories, a 30's coming of age is about change.
The thing about turning 30 is that you know yourself better, and you are usually just starting to have the means to seek what you want. You have enough life experience to know what you like and don't like. You may have a little disposable income, freedom from family, or finally be treating something like depression.
It isn't like being a teenager where the coming of age is new experiences; it's coming of age in knowing what you want and changing your circumstances. You look around and think, "I want and deserve better than this, and I can do it," and you make the change.
Getting a new job. Going back to school. Dating someone new. Moving somewhere else. Going on a long trip. Trying a new hobby. Or even just dressing differently! There's so many ways this coming of age can occur.
But there are layers to this. Unlike a teenage growing up story where you're writing on a blank slate, a 30's coming of age is turning the page. You might have to do something painful. Quit your job. Break up with someone. Say goodbye to your hometown. There's change. And with that, comes apprehension for the future and grief over the past, but you work through that anyway to seek something better for yourself.
To quote the article above, one of my favorite quotes of all time: "There’s something so deliriously pleasurable in the idea of trusting myself enough to know exactly what I want.”
Oh and by the way. This doesn't just have to be the plot of a book or fic. This can be your life, too. You can always do better.
Getting older isn't bad. Turning 30 isn't the end of your life. Things can be better once you know yourself more and know what you want. Embrace it.
When I was thirty I got my first steady full-time job (after years working part-time and substitute) and moved to a new town 40 km from my old one, so that felt like a coming of age!
