My 20s Evaluated

 My 20s began in the middle of my rebirth after months of self destruction and conspiracy. During that first year, things got weird. I got into enjoying pipe tobacco and cigars. A guy tried to murder me (shoutourt to Billy Prater for saving my life). I cosplayed for the first time. I really dug into the Power Rangers fandom (which brought me some interesting moments and friends.) I even started a Power Rangers fan page that would go on to get over 15K likes. It was crazy.

That second year gave me the biggest change of my life, though. I flunked out of college again and moved to Southern California. At first, I didn't want to move. As you probably know, moving here is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me.

The next year gave me my first real job. (I don't count the work study in college because I didn't really do anything.) I finally met my favorite author, Peter David. I cried when I told him how a comic or his helped save my life.

My 4th year is when things started to get crazy again. I worked at Amazon for 2 days before quitting due to anxiety. I worked at the Kohl's e-fulfillment center (which I worked st the previous Christmas season) for a couple of months, before being fired due to some things I said during an anxiety attack. I admitted that I couldn't work anymore and so sought out therapy and a psychiatrist to work on getting disability. My antidepressant stopped working and I had some intense thoughts.

That leads me to my 24th birthday, which was almost the last day of my life. Thanks to my brother Clint snd my friend John for making sure that it wasn't. That year and the following year and a half are sort of a blur. I fought to get my disability and it took me a couple of years to get it.

The second half of the 8th year is when I felt my life began again. I had I come. I could work on trying to go places on my own. I got my first three or four tattoos, went to a con in LA on my own via a 2 hour train ride, stayed the night alone in a hotel in Hollywood, went to Disneyland on my own via a 2 hour bus, stayed another night alone in a hotel in LA, I started to plan a 2 week trip to Iceland, and more. I also declared war on God and turned away from my faith. Life was starting to really take off for me for a year and a half.

Everything changed when the fire nation attacked. I mean, when the pandemic began. I had just gotten freedom and once again had it taken from me. I didn't truly want to end my life again, until shortly after the next birthday. Thankfully, my best friend Sydnee rallied my family to help me through it.

I don't recall anything else of note until the beginning of the 10th year. As you may assume, my 24th birthday ruined my birthday for me. It took 5 years, but that was fixed by a truly special birthday. My best friend, Sydnee, and I hung out at Downtown Disney. A stranger gave me a gift without knowing it was my birthday. It was delightful. It was a simple day that made a day tarnished by darkness go back to a day of celebration. It was a great beginning to year that would give me true adventure. My plans to go to Iceland were shaping up (aside from some problems with Expedia.) On September 26th, I set out on a 2 week journey unlike anything I had ever done before. (If you want to read about my 2 weeks in Iceland, I blogged it every day and can send you a link.) I came back and started going back to Disneyland again. I adopted a pitbull. I accepted my bisexuality. In February, I set out on a train ride from Los Angeles to Seattle. I spent a few days there, and on my way saw the most beautiful winter I've ever seen. On both of the long trips, I met up with friends who had I had known through social media for over a decade. The fun of the year continued when my friend Nadia took me 2 a couple of hangouts with her friends who YouTubers I adore. I went to a convention and met the legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont (who created my favorite character and by proxy contributed to that Peter David comic that helped save my life.) I cried in front of the man who many consider to be the God of the X-Men. He held me hand and said some kind words. That final year of my 20s wasn't without its pain (such as losing my boxer to cancer) but it was a great move forward back out of darkness.

My 20s were eventful in the best and worst ways. There's so many more great and horrible things from them. I learned a lot, but I hope I learned more than I realize. Here's to my 20s! 🍻 Here's to whatever's ahead!🍻