On Major Life Decisions

"Everyone I know is getting married or pregnant. I'm just getting more awesome."

~Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother

Okay, hold the phone.  Who told everyone around me that it was okay to start getting engaged and married or popping out babies?  When did I miss the memo on this whole life-changing-decisions thing?

I feel like I've got my life in order when both my socks match and I wake up before noon.  How is it possible that people my age are making these huge decisions about spending the rest of their lives with someone?  Or multiple someones, apparently.

I guess I'm torn, because I've read a number of things about how this generation is wasting our 20s, because we think we have our whole lives ahead of us to make these huge decisions, so it doesn't matter if we don't settle down or figure our lives out.  And I rationally know that that really just isn't the case.  But I don't feel like I'm emotionally or personally ready to start making those kinds of choices.

And I think a lot of this comes down to another big difference between Denmark and the States -- because in Denmark, most people don't get married until their 30s, at least, and most people older than I am are still in college and figuring out their lives.  And I feel like that shouldn't be a crime.  But unfortunately, in our system, it seems like not having everything figured out already puts you behind the 8-ball.

So now I'm suddenly having these visions of browsing the Help Wanted ads and spending my nights searching cheap dating sites (since my broke, unemployed, imaginary butt clearly couldn't afford the good ones), taking care of cats that somehow came into my possession, hoping to figure out my life.  And it seems like it's way too soon for those kinds of thoughts.

I guess I'm just not sure if everyone else is moving too fast or if I'm just going too slow to keep up, but either way, my head is spinning and something seems off.  I really just want to watch some cartoons and play with Legos.

Peter Pan-ing with the best of 'em,
Rachel Leigh

On "Because I'm a Psycho"

I swear, if you looked up "Crazy Cat Lady in the Making" in the dictionary, there would be a definition something along the lines of "Perpetually single, slightly demented girl in her early-to-mid-20s with an unnatural obsession with cat videos on the internet and next to no social skills."  Next to this brilliantly-worded entry, you would find a picture of my face and a nice little "See Also" tag.

But, even this crazy cat lady has a wedding board on Pinterest and like six seasons of "Say Yes to the Dress" in her Netflix queue.  And that got me thinking... Why?  I can understand why women who are deeply, soundly in love with someone might start dreaming about their future wedding day.  But what prompts the rest of us, the girls for whom the prospect of a future wedding may actually be what most people consider laughable, to fantasize about these things?

Is it some sort of way of filling in the gaps in our lives?  Is it the manifestation of years of brainwashing by Disney princesses who want nothing more than to be married and live happily ever after?  Is it because we're actually planning these elaborate weddings so we can one day marry those 20 cats that we're probably already on the road to having?

I honestly wish I had an answer.  But, in all honesty, I don't even understand it in myself.  Said Pinterest board is sub-titled "Because I'm a Psycho," so clearly I think it's as nuts as everybody else does.

Confusedly yours,
Rachel Leigh