Thoughts on aging

Catherine Andrews
6 min readJul 31, 2022

From the acorn to the oak tree.

Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

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Happy Sunday, Soothers. Recently I was hanging out with a group of people who were about 10–15 years younger than I am. This is a relatively common experience for me these past few years, as my boyfriend is 12 years younger than I am and I’m often around his (wonderful) group of friends.

As he and his friends round 30, I’ve noticed an uptick in their conversations and laments about aging, and it was something I saw very strongly in this most recent hang. These folks didn’t know me that well and I suspect they didn’t realize my age (42) because there was a lot of bemoaning about your 40s being so old (lol) and how they were dreading getting to that age because being nearly 30 was already so hard and awful.

I don’t pass judgment on these sorts of comments because I remember very clearly being there myself, particularly in the late 20s/early 30s part of my life. There really is something about entering your 30s that can have you questioning a lot of where you’re going in your life and if things are unfolding in the direction you desire. It’s hard not to compare yourself to others at this age juncture, personally and professionally (everybody is either getting married or having kids or buying homes or getting promotions and if you find yourself without those mile…

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Catherine Andrews

Teaching awakening + healing through vulnerability + self-compassion. Finding hope in a messy world. Author of the Sunday Soother. http://catherinedandrews.com