29 Year Old Teenagers

Twenty-nine is the weirdest age ever.

I mean, you’ve got one friend married with three kids, one on the brink of getting engaged, and one super single. (I’m the super single one, btw).

And while many may argue this dynamic plays out throughout one’s twenties, when we’re no longer in grade school, going through the same stages at the same time, there is something about the late twenties that hits different.

Let me try to put my finger on it.

You can help me out in the comments below, too, if you’d like to weigh in.

It may be because you’ve lived through quite a bit (college, a pandemic, multiple jobs…), but you still feel super young, orrrr maybe you’re deeply confused about how you got here so fast and still don’t know what you want, but refuse to think these things through.

So, you live every day like you’re forever 29.

You’re responsible by day at your desk job, but still love to party. You’re scared of commitment (or are in some way avoidant)…I find this especially common in twenty-nine-year-old men. I want to think women have more variation here, at least from what I’ve seen.

Being someone who glowed up in their later twenties is especially interesting. Because you kinda want to experience some of what you missed out on in your youth, but mentally you know you’re not really there anymore.

In your head, you might be in your thirties, for all we know. But that younger part of you that missed out? It’s telling you to be spontaneous, stay up late, or do who knows what else.

I’m just making loose observations here.

Most women, even those who were crazy partiers in their twenties, start to want something more serious around 26 to 29. We do have a biological clock to consider, and it’s natural to want a steady partner by this stage. And while I do think some men think the same way, the majority probably don’t. The wiring is just different.

So, if you’re 29, I get how disoriented you feel (in one way or another). I feel it, too.

Self-awareness is good, but I don’t know how much overthinking, where you’d thought you’d be at this stage, versus where you actually are, is helping in any way.

Without having all the answers, I think being honest with yourself and others about who you are and what you want is the most important thing to practice here.

And maybe 29 is really all about confronting yourself.

A 19-year-old with a decade of experience.

*AI was not used in the writing of this post. All thoughts are from Shiri’s brain :)

Cover photo is a screenshot from Thatcoolmoodboard.