Twenty-Something

I read an article recently about the current twenty-something age group. This collection of young people that I am a part of that are in the limbo phase between adulthood and adolescence; or perhaps the phase of diving head first into the real world while still longing for our parents to make us Mickey Mouse pancakes on Saturday mornings. It's a strange place to live in. This particular article argued that my generation is putting off growing up, so to speak, or rather just taking their sweet time in doing so. People are moving back in with their parents, getting married later in life, living in multiple apartments with multiple roommates before ever thinking about buying a house.

In our teen years we are aching to be free of our parents control. But now, post college, having my mom visit brightens up my week and brings some much needed order to my chaotic and unscheduled new life. It is officially September and for the first time since I was 5 I am not going out to buy the newest and coolest back pack, pencil box, or school gadget. WEIRD. This can' be real. Going through what needs to get accomplished in the next few days I have no homework, no summer reading to catch up on, in reality very few things with any kind of due date other than a short bio for a concert I will be singing in next month. I have traded in papers and textbooks to write emails to various people regarding job opportunities, rehearsal conflicts, auditions and headshots. I have to schedule in my yoga and dance classes, run basic errands such as grocery shopping and CVS trips because I am out of shampoo and running low on my favorite cereal. And while all this sounds easy and mundane I am somehow busy and mildly overwhelmed by the newness of it all.

In school the priorities are clear, black and white. 'I cannot go to that audition because I have class and if I miss class I get in trouble'. Simple, annoying at times, but nonetheless easy to understand and abide by. Now it is not so easy. I must make up the rules on my own. It's all of a sudden not so clear as to what projects, jobs, etc are the wisest choices. Priorities and scheduling changes at the drop of a hat and I have to be ready to do anything at anytime. Talk about living in the present and taking it one day and one breath at a time!

My yoga teacher at the beginning of this week said something which has stuck with me. He was talking about the practice of yoga and how, although it is a physical workout, it is also a spiritual and mental process. Learning to calm the mind, focus on breathing and leave everything that may be causing stress or worry outside while committing to the practice for however long it is. He said that finding a calmness in your daily life is essential; citing that in a natural disaster it is often those who are able to stay calm that survive. And this particular phrase has survived with me all week: "Sometimes life can feel like a natural disaster, but if we can stay calm and breathe through it, we will be okay."

Pretty groovy if you ask me. I'm becoming a more of a yogi everyday. :-)