The Years of Decay: A Brief Look At the Last Year For Me

This is the day before my 24th Birthday and I'm psyched about how far I've come over the past year. When I turned 23, my life sucked; I had just been turned down for a job at Miskeen Originals in their advertising department, I was a week away from being laid-off from my job at Tech Tattoo (a kiosk I worked at in the King of Prussia Mall) and I was nearly broke. I spent the next 3 months staring into an abyss of my own personal demise, one that was filled with all my utilities being shut off, being broke, losing my house... losing everything.

Then... hope.

Around April of 2008, I was working as a dishwasher for $7 an hour at a bar/wanna-be-upscale restaurant in the Northern Liberties section of Philly. I was trying to quit as soon as possible, and I had an out: A job at a company working full-time as a web and graphic designer. I quickly was hired for the job... the same week I was fired from the dishwasher job. Worked out pretty well.

By October, I had finally gotten a handle on things: Bills getting worked out, actually getting by and surviving was possible... By December, I had fallen into a working-class mindset and was actually putting up with having to work 10-hour shifts (I normally work 8) in order to make up time I lost (Flex-time!), living off $40 for 2 weeks, and met someone great.

Today, I look at the past year and all that I've went through, all that I've seen, all that I've enjoyed, and all that I've been forced to suffer to get to this point. I have seen many great people and great minds lost this year, a massive retail bust, and the election of a new president. I've been forced to stoop to levels I never thought I would have to go in order to survive, and my reward was a great career in my chosen field, some great friends, an excellent experience, and finally some relief from my bills.

For the first time in what feels like forever, things are looking up again.

In tribute to that last year, both for the bad and the good, one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite songs ever: Overkill "The Years of Decay".

On Being 23 and Getting Old

I know what your thinking already; 23 is Not Old. Your right, it's not. It just means I'm getting older. Nonetheless, it still means I'm getting on in years to a degree. I'm starting to notice this physically. My knees are starting to kill me, and my skateboarding isn't what it used to be. I've got some weird twitch with one of my eyes... You know what made me feel the oldest? I was on the train yesterday in a rather bad mood. All of a sudden, a teenager sits next to me, taking away all my room, and driving me nuts. A lady who it appears he knew talked to him periodically and he later moved.

So what does all this mean? During all of this, I realized I just became the same type of adult who I absolutely hated growing up; lame. The teen liked all the same stuff as me; skateboarding, art... but I still was just in a mood.

Growing up doesn't mean losing stuff, like hair or mobility. In reality, age boils more and more down to sheer responsibility and doing things for yourself and others. I may live on my own and have no real need to support anyone other than me, but I began to notice that a few things in my life are directly connected to others in ways I never saw before. Call it something you get with age or experience, but it's starting to come out.

That's really is about it. Yesterday was my Birthday, and I didn't get a cake or present this year, which I don't mind. I'm just glad I have some good friends more than anything.