Recently I celebrated my birthday and I have to say, I’m really loving my thirties. I feel wiser, I look slightly older which I love but feel young enough that nothing hurts (yet). I am independent in a way I wasn’t in my 20s and I’ve finally found my rhythm in life. One of my favorite expressions is “If I only knew then what I know now”… so I thought I’d just write it down. The things I’ve learned in the thirty-some-odd-years for anyone younger listening and for anyone older who might like to share with me their lessons so that my next 30 years are just as bright…
1. Have a dream. Follow your dreams.
2. Failures are not mistakes, only the lessons that give us stories.
3. GO WITH YOUR GUT. Always, always, always.
4. “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” That is what I think every time I get a “little nervous”. We don’t know what is about to happen so we can’t live our lives as if we do.
5. You never know what someone is dealing with personally so be kind.
6. Knowledge is power and opportunity. Opportunity is everything.
7. You may end up loving the things you once hated.
8. Do what you love for a living so you can love what you do. It’s the only time we’ve got, might as well spend it as well as possible.
9. Money does not define happiness.
10. It is the things that people make look easy that are the hardest to do.
11. A great photograph needs no caption because it has an idea, story or message within it.
12. Never be afraid to try something new.
13. Talk about what you love.
14. Giving is better than receiving.
15. Best friends are the keepers of your life’s memories.
16. You are not the clothes you wear.
17. I would rather be in a room full of kings, than be king of the room.
18. There’s no free lunch in nature.
19. Life is too short for bad: beer, wine, coffee, food, people.
20. You never stop learning.
21. Your dreams can and should change.
22. Women get more beautiful with age.
23. The world is not as bad a place as the news can lead you to believe.
24. DON’T HAVE A BACKUP PLAN.
25. Don’t be in a hurry to graduate college, get a job, get married, have babies. Have the freedom to spend your 20s exploring yourself and the world around you.
26. “He who does not take risk, does not drink Champagne.” Risk = reward
27. Perfection is boring.
28. Like attracts like. Create the kind of work you want to keep creating. Work with the kinds of people you want to keep working with. Surround yourself with people you believe in.
29. Only the best is good enough.
30. Treat your first like your last and your last like your first.
Thank you so much to my darling friends, travel companions, creative collaborators who constantly keep me inspired, dreaming, and quite entertained. I’ll never forget this birthday party of gowns, Champagne, lobster pasta and French chocolate cake you gave me on Oscar Sunday. It was one of the best nights of my life, spending this birthday with y’all.
