We’re starting to hear the same, largely positive, discourse about your 30s – that you’re more confident, self-assured, carefree, settled. Whilst these are great and I can imagine why they could be true, rarely do we hear the nuts and bolts of how this plays out for people.
We could sit here and say time is a social construct, age is just a number and countless other simple sounding but complex theories, yet none of this takes away from the fact that there can be feelings and emotions attached to ageing…and 30 is a biggie.
It’s the end of my 26-30 railcard and it’s ticking a whole new age category box on forms. Say goodbye to the 30-under-30 type awards and accolades, and all the support schemes in the world that end when recipients reach 30. This all implicitly tells me that I should know what I’m doing at my ‘big age’.
Admittedly, any new decade is likely to feel like fresh territory but 30 feels like a new level of adulthood has been unlocked. No longer are you #adulting, you’re (supposedly) in the big leagues now.