33

33

And finally, one of my last two baby teeth started to wiggle. They’re the only excuse I have left for still acting childish. Over the past year, I’ve grown three gray hairs and one gray eyelash. I quickly eliminated the gray hairs, but kept the eyelash – as if to prove to myself and others that I’m not afraid of aging. I am.

8:30 AM. That’s when I made my grand entrance into this world, deceiving everyone into thinking I came in peace and calm. My parents, sighing blissfully, bragged that they got a very quiet baby. Spoiler alert – the bragging didn’t last long.

In this photo, I’m showing off the sea and mountains I received as a gift. It’s also a representative photo in which I’m still a herring under a blanket – because that’s the role I spent most of the year in. I wish I could say it was due to a passionate lover, but the truth is, I moved to a country where central heating hasn’t yet been invented.

This year was yet another failed attempt at getting my life together and acting like a grown-up woman. I think one undeniable truth remains: as long as you still have baby teeth, you’re allowed to act like a kid.

Many conclusions were made and lots of silly/genius ideas were born. And let them all be accompanied by my traditional, annual list of the most important things I’ve realized over the past 365 days:

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1. Never forget how much injustice and pain exists in the world. And still – search for beauty and joy with all your strength.

2. The less someone is seen on social media, the more they’re probably worth envying.

3. You are successful when the people you love – love you back.

4. Algimantas Baltakis’s poem “How Much Does a Person Need?”

5. If the thought crosses your mind that you deserve better – believe it, it’s true.

6. Men CAN and SHOULD be friends with women.

7. Don’t take advice from people who don’t have what you want.

8. At 33, you often stop looking “presentable.” You start looking like someone who just doesn’t want to be cold.

9. The years go by, and still Il Postino is the most beautiful move ever made.

10. Silence is a luxury you crave more and more with age.

11. The one life lesson we are destined never to learn – how to lose with grace.

12. If you feel like the smartest person in the room – you’re in the wrong room.

13. Beauty really will save the world (not the mainstream kind).

14. If someone wants to leave your life – stand by the door, not to stop them, but to open it wider. And once they’re gone, linger a bit in the draft – let it air out.

15. We see so many things every day, yet notice so little.

16. Not everything in life is a lesson. (*Dwight Schrute*)

17. For life to move forward – you have to move too. Physically counts.

18. If you want a clear answer, ask questions that can only be answered with YES or NO.

19. There is an answer to every question. It goes: “So what?”

20. Life becomes much sweeter when you start your day with coffee in bed.

21. We love and hate the same things – just at different times.

22. If someone cries about having no time – take away their phone.

23. I still don’t understand why we’d move mountains for others but do nothing for ourselves.

24. The more years I live, the less I understand people. But the more I understand nature.

25. Dreams and plans are different things – and grown-ups often confuse them. Plans can (with effort) be achieved. Dreams require a bit of luck.

26. Speaking of dreams – they get harder to come up with as we age. Yet, the older you get, the more important it becomes to have at least one.

27. People who blast music from their phones in public spaces should be sentenced to community service.

28. After 30, it’s legal to take flower photos and send them to your friends. At 33, it’s legal to post them publicly.

29. From time to time, we should remind ourselves that we’re here for a very limited time. Suddenly, there's much more motivation to do the things we used to fear.

30. Sarcastic people are the best kind of people.

31. A year automatically becomes a good one if you witness at least 50 sunsets. Tried, tested, and true.

32. Everyone should gift themselves a hammock. And find a way to incorporate it into daily life.

33. Mom’s birthday message: “Be healthy . The rest – you’ll get anyway.”

I won’t try to guess what this year will be like. It’s enough to know – it’ll be different.

The most important thing – let it be interesting.

Let’s