Welcome to the 30 Club

It was a Wednesday, not any different from Tuesdays, neither Thursdays. I tried to keep a low profile; however, 30 is too big a deal, like a ring from an old church bell of the 14th-century. “Welcome to the 30 Club,” read the first email, and repeated by every following one.

I looked back and gazed the way I came; I saw ups and downs, I saw pebbles and rocks. I turned around and looked forward, and I swore to myself, “It’s time to start to build up some milestones.”

It seems like a general belief that when you reach 30, you need to have something at hand, something big, like a family, a career, a fortune, a whatsoever on which carved your name. This belief puts burden on young people’s shoulders, or even prisons their souls, though the only required qualify of being 30 is independence, according to the highly respected ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius.

To me, stepping into the 30 Club, I felt my life just started. The world is so big, and a life can have so many potentials. If we do not give every possibility a try, how can we explore and determine what we definitely love and will embrace for the rest of our lives? I can’t agree more on a quote from a book written by a famous designer, “At the time you figure out what you love to do, you are probably 30.” You might say, “Life is too short.” This is what I would answer: if you really find your true love, all the time spent is well invested. Life is too short to stick with a career you do not love.

My childhood education has disciplined me well: to behave modestly, to listen to and respect parents’ expectations, to be humble, to make sacrifice to maximize the prioritized group profit. A lot of times, my wild mind didn’t want to stay within boundaries, but most of the time, I reluctantly made compromises. I’ve put a lot of thoughts into this dilemma: be others’ good girl or be my own good girl? I have sneaked out the boundaries a lot to experience something intriguing, something new. Now, I am 30; I’ve finally made the conclusion that only if you are your own good girl, will you be others’ good girl, and just like that, the dilemma solved.

Welcome to the 30 Club. In this club, people are independent and confident. Your membership will expire in 10 years, but what you have gained is always fresh.

上禮拜三，我的三十歲生日。通常只是偶發性慶祝生日的我，想說今年就過個普通的星期三吧。僥倖朋友抬愛，收到了不少祝福。

有趣的是，所有女性朋友寄來的祝福，都特別提到了「三十」這個字眼來揶揄一番。也許是「青春小鳥一去不回來」？還是三十真的是 overtime ？（我個人很喜歡Overtime那齣日劇，是江角的粉絲），抑或三十就鐵定邁入熟女行列？

不論是什麼，諸多的巧合，讓我不禁對「三十」這個數字多想了很多，突然發現其實我可以很自豪地說：「我長大了」（還是我應該說：「我老了」？）所以寫下這篇感言。

最後，套句我大學時代的口頭禪：「我還是花樣的年華哩」
（呃，花樣年華是我最愛的一部電影，巧哩）

三十歲的姑娘們，共勉之，讓我們勇敢地朝那夕陽奔去。