CHANGE DESTINY

Changing the pace a little bit and talking about something a bit more personal!

While I try to hide my age as much as I can when it comes to the Internet-world (hehe!), being completely transparent - I’m approaching 30 fast and with that comes a few thoughts about life achievements and pathways and what I think I’m supposed to have achieved by this age. You know - marriage, children, career advancement and house purchases. All the fun stuff!

Sometimes I get sucked into these thoughts and freak out about what I have and haven’t done throughout my 29 years of life, other times I am able to remind myself that these are all "achievements" constructed by society and their ideas about getting older, and they don’t need to apply to me as long as I’m happy and I feel accomplished with what I’m doing.

I remember being in high school and thinking that by the age of 26, I’d be married with 2 children living in a nice house with an amazing career chugging along because that’s how it just happened. WHAT?! Let's just say I’m most definitely children-less and I’m still (hey Rohan...) patiently waiting for an engagement ring!

The results of a recent survey by one of my favourite skincare brands SK-II really, really surprised me (and also made me a bit sad). The survey results suggest that across the world, millions of women feel pressured to have achieved certain things by a certain age, in order to meet all the expectations society sets for us. For example, 1 out of 3 women in Asia feel there’s a pre-determined timeline of when to do things (marriage, children etc) that they are expected to follow all by the age of 30, and 4 out of 10 women experience anxiety about getting older when comparing themselves to their friends. Isn't that crazy!?

Sure, I won't be married with children by the time I am 30, but I’ve done other things I”m incredibly proud of - like travel the world, live in New York, work a full-time job I love, create a side business for myself and surround myself with incredible humans. When I remind myself of that, I realise how important it is for us to create our own journeys, in whatever timeline, with whatever milestones we think. There might be a few big ones that may come standard for people, but does it really matter when we get “there” or if we get “there” at all?

SO ...

How do you feel about getting older and the expectations that come with it?

The survey results also showed that people just aren't talking about this topic - I truly believe conversation will lead to a change in societies attitude toward getting older. Besides the wrinkles, it's not that bad, is it?!

WEARING | Wilbur the Label Dress / Zac Posen Bag / Saint Laurent Belt / Billini Boots

Thanks to SKII for collaborating on this post

*This survey was conducted online by Procter & Gamble in May 2017 among 4280 women and 3261 men ages 18 years of age and older in the following countries Japan (n=1006), Korea (n=1010), China (n=1006), Hong Kong (n= 301), Taiwan (n= 303), Thailand (n= 302), Malaysia (n=309), Indonesia (n= 304), United States (n= 1000) , United Kingdom (n= 1000) and Australia (n=1000).