The Mid-Twenties Crisis

I'm about to 26. Can't believe it. When I was 19 and a sophomore in college, I couldn't wait to turn 20. 20 was closer to 21; 20 was the entrance to a decade of opportunity and freedom; 20 was a great age, almost as good as the best age, 21. I was big into Heroes back then (the NBC hit TV show, not firefighters or Batman or modern everyday heroes who help those in need, the real heroes) and thought that when I turned 20, there might (mystically) be some sort of transformation in myself that I would inhert a superpower, like x-ray vision, telepathy, or even the ability to fly. Yes, I know. I am not proud of my 19-year old self.

My 21st birthday passed and went (I do remember the standard heavy amounts of alcohol before passing out before midnight that night and it being rather uneventful), as did my 22nd, 23rd, and 24th birthdays, all happening during finals week of law school (the curse of the early-May birthdays) and thus passed over without much thought. My 25th birthday was actually kind of cool, the lawyers and employees of Meyer Law Organization threw a surprise party for me with a cake and everything. Not bad. I passed out before midnight.

This year, I'm being more reflective about my birthday as it's the first of a few in my (can't believe I'm saying this) LATE-twenties. Suddenly I've vaunted from the carefree days of college early-twenties era to the responsbilities-laden, work-necessary, supposedly income-generating and spouse-finding years in the late twenties. Appropriately enough, I'm at a crossroads in my life: Since I last posted I left my old job (a significant lifestyle change that changes how I spend at least half of my waking hours), spent a month at home polishing up my Japanese, then moved into downtown Los Angeles and started on a contract attorney position. Eventually that will pass, and I will be pressed to find my next opportunity, my next living space, my next girlfriend, my next way of living. And the later I am in life and in my (dreaded) late-twenties, the more I should find a permanent opportunity, a permanent living space, a permanent girlfriend, a permanent way of living. I have to establish that soon.

But enough about that, for I'm still 25; I'm still in my mid-twenties, and who knows, maybe when I turn 26, I'll turn into a superhero.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan