Au revoir, Nashville (Year 2) |

Moving right along, here is a journal entry from my 2nd year in Nashville.

YEAR 2: MOVED TO EDGEHILL WITH 3 ROOMMATES: WORKING AS AN EDITOR: AGE 23-24: 2013-2014

June 10th 2014
Let’s just talk about spunk, and the fact that, as a 24 year old, you need a good dose of it. Why? Well, there’s the fact that your co-workers are 30 years your senior and you’re expected to match their maturity level, or the fact that car mechanics will constantly try to rip you off and you’ll have to stand your ground. And heck, if you don’t need spunk just to pay your car insurance bill. On time. Without crying. And without dipping into your savings.
I say accomplishing these tasks takes spunk. My sister Becca would say they require putting on your “big girl panties.” Since I’m generally against the word “panties,” I’ll go with spunk, but tomatoe/tomAtoe.
Regardless of what you call it, life as a female young adult takes courage that I’ve never before had to muster. You’ll get taken advantage of, you’ll get laughed at, and you’ll fail. OH, HEAVENS, will you fail—at seemingly everything, all the time. You’ll do life alone, and it will be hard. But that’s where your spunky side shines brightest. It picks you up and says, “OK, I’m a failure, but I’m just going to bounce back like a champ, because I’m Kat Williamson, darn it! And even if it makes no sense, or if it’s hard, or if you feel more like an adult than you would like, you DO bounce back, feeling a little bit better than the last time.
No one personifies the spunky soul quite like Sue from The Middle. It’s no secret that Sue is one of my favorite TV characters of all time. She’s awkward, weird, clumsy, and an absolute failure. But a lovable failure, because she puts the most positive spins on her losses. I found the sweetest article on Sue Heck where the writers gave their opinions on her character…
“It’s always been our intention that she be so optimistically and painfully average. We wanted to honor all those people who felt they never fit in. But we didn’t want her to be a nerd or a loser. That’s not how we think of her. She has a blah sort of name, she fails to distinguish herself again and again, but she just keeps going. She’s the little engine that could. We always say she’ll be a fantastic adult—she just has to get through this first.”
I suppose that I feel like a Sue Heck regarding adulthood. It’s been an awkward transition where I’ve realized that, like Sue, I am so painfully average. I just don’t fit in to adulthood yet. I, too, fail to distinguish myself again and again. But here’s where spunk/panties/little engine that could/whatever comes into play. I refuse to give up. I am determined to be a fantastic adult someday … I just have to get through this first.

Year 2 in Pictures: