Yep. Interesting times. Now I really can’t hide from the fact that I am officially a Grown Up. Whoa. I have to say though that I’m rather pleased to be at the tail end of my twenties, rather than starting it all over again. As wonderful and exhilarating and fantastic as youth is, it can also be incredibly confusing and angst-ridden, and having survived all of that I am now immensely enjoying reaping the rewards of being older and wiser – namely, understanding who I am, who I’m not and recognising that, actually, it’s all good and nothing to be worried about. What’s even more enlightening is the realisation you get from talking to other people that this is such a universal experience. Everyone goes through the Age of Angst at some point, even though some people don’t show it as much as others. But in the end we all come out of it, hopefully happier and more accepting of ourselves than ever before. Aw.
Anyway, for my birthday I’d quite like a crown like Catherine the Great’s. You can’t really see it in this picture, but I’m rather fond of the one she had, it was all rubies and diamonds and awe-inspiring Slavic sparkliness. And while I’m at it a sash and a sceptre wouldn’t go amiss either.
What was Catherine the Great doing at age 30 I wonder? She was in a loveless marriage to the staggeringly incompetent Peter III, educating herself about the principles of the Enlightenment, and perfecting her political strategems until the time was right for her to wrest power from her husband in bloodless and almost effortless coup three years later. And then of course she went on to become one of the greatest monarchs of all time, a figurehead of the Enlightenment, a cultural revolutionary, a despot and a thoroughly impressive and independent female ruler. And to be frank, I’m expecting nothing less from my thirties as well.
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