Monday, January 30, 2012

New Beginnings: The Rebirth of the Mid-20's

Thinking about blogging again, after years of taking a break.


Not to post photos of my projects, cooking or beer, but to reflect on them. As I have transitioned away from a college experience where I was surrounded by close friends and relationships conducive to Sunday barbecues and homemade pies to a professional life where my main support comes only from myself, leading the life I wanted has taken on a different scope. 


Being a 25 year old women with a passion for business, entrepreneurship, non-profit work and a self sufficiency based on a do-it-yourself, simplistic lifestyle provides a complex balance between maintaining a feminist world-view, fighting for recognition in both work and hobbies, and striving to "become an adult" is challenging. Doing so when I look 18 proves even more difficult. Doing so while navigating a terrain of relationships, friendships, family and the emotional pitfalls complexities of any inter-personal relationship, romantic or platonic, has not only shifted the way I think about the world, but has dramatically altered my identity. 


A homemade brunch with ingredients
 from the Green City Market is a perfect morning
I still cook - a lot. I still brew beer, also quite often. I have 5 gallons of a Belgium strong ale fermenting in a carboy, just bottled an IPA, and enjoyed a Saison brewed last month. I spent Sunday roasting vegetables and making quiche. All of my important relationships focus on food and creation; I cook and eat and brew and sew and knit with the people I care about most, but those relationships are not so simple as they were even a few years ago. 


I still knit and craft, though not as often. My etsy shop closed, making way for a freelance writing gig that drew in a larger and more realistic amount of money for the effort I was exerting. While I'd rather keep knitting hats and crocheting amigurumi dogs, freelance writing website content and press releases fits into my schedule and provides me with the financial stability I need.


I still love the things I loved in college, still want many of the same things. What has changed is this delicate balance; the precarious interweaving of passion and practicality, emotion and logic, trust and freefalling into one's own life. 

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