WHAT I’M WEARING: MANGO OVERSIZED WHITE BLOUSE, GLAMOROUS WHITE LACE MIDI SKIRT, SOLUDOS LEATHER ESPADRILLES VIA SHOPBOP, BRIXTON FEDORA VIA SHOPBOP & VINTAGE LOUIS VUITTON SPEEDY VIA ETSY
For the last five days, my best friend in the entire world came to stay with me again. I met her in my first few weeks of University in 2007 and we’ve held on to one another ever since. Of course, being me I moved away and our lives are now as different as day and night. There are no parallels or similarities to bound us, just a sisterly love that stuck solid as our lives ambled down very opposing paths. But her visit got me thinking about my own daily life, primarily the difference between living in Barcelona, quietly working for myself compared to the very busy London life she calls her own. Now at almost 30, our lives are settled in their own ways, she being much more mature than me, is getting married this year. I adopted a dog and bought my own sofa, which for me, are huge commitments. I’ve always been behind when it came to acting like an adult, but a new realization surfaced after spending more time with her than I have since we lived together as students. My life is quiet and strange in that it doesn’t conform to a single one of society’s markings of success. I live by myself, unmarried, I never go to sleep before 1 am, I have never in my entire life had a conventional office job and I moved away from one of the world’s prime capitals purely because I couldn’t cope financially. As I’ve grown up, my life has inched further and further away from convention. Moving to Barcelona instilled in me a calmness, I am certain I could never live somewhere as hectic as Paris or London again. It would be too stressful, too busy, too many people in a hurry all the time. I am never in a rush, I am always late and I love to sleep. I have no idea what I’ll be doing tomorrow or even tonight, my schedule rotates hourly and I’m practically incapable of making plans unless they are professional. I guess my friend Jade made me realize how absolutely bohemian my life has become. It made me feel a little lazy, a little lacking in a vague way, I felt insufficient but then I realized, I’ve never been happier than I am right now. Ofcourse, whichever path you take, be it an awesome job in a fancy city like London or a quieter existence somewhere south, they are both valid, but only so if they make you happy. Personally, I found contentment as soon as I stopped racing, I was always striving for something else, something more, something better. But if my life never changed after today, I’d die a pretty happy lady. I’m not rich, I live in a city without friends and yet, I found a peace I’ve never quite had before. I prefer living more loosely, more sloppily, it suits me. I’m too much of a mess for an office job or a wedding or any of those solid ideals. I think realizing that was what made me happy. But please, don’t mistake the love I have for my life as disapproval for other paths. My best friend Jade’s life is absolutely the opposite of mine but she is as happy as I am ; successful and moving forward in a way that makes me so proud I could cry. It’s simply deciding what works for you, as an individual. Don’t ever be afraid to stray or stay, both are beautiful in their own way. As for me? By 40, I’ll probably be living on a tiny farm with 20 dogs, planting tomatoes topless and writing my afternoons away. You are all, of course, invited to come visit. I can’t promise I’ll a have a blog then but I hope to have at least written a few books for you to read.
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