The 20's Club: Society's Norms, Moving on and Depression

Okay. Another hard-hitting subject- apologies.

Not many people seem to discuss depression in their 20's. 

I wrote a post a while ago on the quarter life crisis 

(which I still need to copy and paste onto this one.) 

But I thought I would make dedicate a slightly deeper post. 

What is depression? 

Have you ever felt depressed? 

Our 20's is possibly one of the most stressful, yet most important of our decades.

We go through so much change. Physically, mentally and emotionally. 

I don't know about you, but I've gone from wanting to be a ballet dancer, 

to a fashion designer, to famous actress, to writer, to director, to teacher. 

I'm nearly 28 and I'm still not sure where my life is going. 

Now, I applied for university through clearing. I remember sitting 

at my laptop all day on clearing day, 2013, 

searching for suitable courses, then, finally, 

I received an acceptance email. 

I packed up my suitcase, and off I went to Cardiff. 

I studied the first two years of my degree at the University of South Wales. 

Why just the first two years?

As the second year went on, my energy flagged. 

I would get back from my weekly food shop, and crash on my bed 

when I got back to the house. I was prescribed with iron tablets, 

which I took every day for a few months. 

Even after a couple of months, something didn't feel right. 

I went and spoke to a university counsellor. Realising I wasn't happy, 

I applied to Southampton Solent and, miraculously, I was offered a place. 

Switching universities was the best move I have probably done for myself, 

and I graduated with a second class honours degree. 

After university, I found myself in and out of various jobs, unable to settle.

 In April 2017, I was offered a Learning Support Assistant position 

in a local secondary school. I stayed there for two years before I went travelling. 

In the meantime, my Facebook continuously 

shows me the successes 

of my peers I went to school with- from landing their 'careers' 

to finding and settling down with partners, some having children, 

some buying their first property. 

Over the last six months of my travels, 

I began to wonder whether

 I wanted to 'fit into' societies norms and expectations, 

and I'm not sure I do. 

Last night, my mum and I watched a film about Nello-

 called Marvellous- a guy with learning difficulties who ended up

 being employed by Stoke City Football Club. 

Probably the best line in the entire film was

 "I wanted to be happy, so I decided to be". 

We all seem to be searching for something. Finding ourselves- 

finding what makes us tick, what makes us get out of bed in the morning. 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is- 

what's all this soul searching for?

Maybe all we need to do is make the most of what we have,

 enjoy what we have and just be happy, without too much thought. 

Embrace who you are, and not what society expects you to be. X