27 Club: The Biggest Lesson I've Learned On My Birthday

Have you ever heard this joke?

"Doctor, I am suffering from headaches, I feel nauseous and can’t sleep. What is happening to me?"

"How old are you?"

"27"

"Don’t worry, that’s just a rock star dying in you."

As I celebrated my 28th birthday about a month ago a small rock star died in me too. And maybe it’s a good thing.

I’ve alway wondered why 27 Club is a thing. And now I can definitely say that 27 is the transition year for most people. I asked my friends around, and everyone told me that 27 was the hardest year for them so far. It’s the year when many went through terrible break ups or even got divorced, decided to change carers, move away, eliminate people from their lives, got depressed, faced terrible life situations, etc. I think it is because that year you really begin exiting the phase when you still act like a careless teenager and all of a sudden realize that time is going faster than before. It is the age when you are feeling the need to plan for the future, and you, kind of, get the hint that life isn’t as easy as you thought it would be. This is when reality really hits you. Your childhood dreams crash, and you finally get it into your head that you will never become a firefighter, a model or a movie star. Not because you can’t, but because you haven’t done shit to achieve those dreams nor are you planning on doing anything.

27 is the first year you feel what it’s like to start aging. And not visibly just yet (although you probably should up that SPF in your daily cream). It’s just you kind of don’t want to party till 4 am, probably because you’ve already done it so many times and there is really nothing new about doing that. But also your body responds differently to many things. You start longing for those times when your parents used to make you sleep when you were a kid. You probably prefer a movie and a glass of wine at home over a party. And hangovers are real now. Maybe your hip starts hurting a little and you catch yourself complaining about your lower back more than usually. Or you get excited about getting a vacuum cleaner for your birthday and in the section of suggested products Amazon offers you to purchase a new set of pans and a Vitamix blender. You probably come up with more excuses about why you don’t want to go out with your friends and now your body needs more hours of sleep to rest.

But most importantly your mind shifts. The world is the same world you’ve been living in before. But it really isn’t anymore. You get scared that you aren’t doing as much as you should, that there are so many things to do before you hit 30, and you need to become way more responsible. Maybe it’s time to quit just browsing through life mindlessly and start making adult decisions. And this is where the disconnect happens. A lot of 27 year olds feel this shift, but are not ready or become too scared to move forward. This is why many experience identity crises, get restless, stressed or even depressed. 27 is not an easy age. For those of you who are reading this right now try to remember where you were at 27. Or if you are about to become 27 brace yourself. It will be a year when you will realize more about you than ever before. It is a tricky transition, but a very necessary one. A year of testing your real character. For those of you still about to go or going through this age, stay strong, self reflect and walk slowly. For those who already have done the transition, think back to that year and look for what changes you experienced that might still be ruling your life right now. They might be affecting you way more than you think.

As for me I am really over the 27. I am letting it all go as I let go of my birthday balloons. Time for new experiences, well-thought-out decisions and staying true to myself. TWENTY EIGHT. I have arrived...