my 20th high school reunion

Last month, I went with my best friend from growing up, Celeste, to our 20th high school reunion.

It. Was. A. Journey. Lol!

I went to an all-girls Catholic high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The reunion event was at the school itself for all class years ending in 3 or 8. The class of 2003 won for the most number of people to attend (42, out of a class of something like 130).

I have complex feelings about my high school experience, and also it was amazing and so delightful to get to catch up with so many amazing women, twenty years later. 

I absolutely LOVED getting to hear about what everyone’s doing professionally. Most people have really blossomed into themselves and are deep into a career they love or at least find super interesting and engaging.

And it was also really, really funny to realize how … off the beaten track my career must appear.

I spend 90% of my professional time either with clients, or connecting with other authors and entrepreneurs. Most of my closest friends are entrepreneurs. So I live in a bubble of writers and business owners.

And it was really funny to remember that most people have regular jobs. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with a regular job. 

It’s just a reminder: pursue the path that’s meant for you. Not the one that everyone follows. 

I was telling an old friend the story of how Celeste and I came to be roommates in D.C. after college. I’d graduated in the summer of 2007 and moved home to live with my parents. I was working at Starbucks while I figured out what was next.

And I was also (secretly) writing a novel.

It was the novel that would eventually become Catchlight. 

And while at the time I had a lot of shame about working at Starbucks, what I know for sure is that I would never have had the idea for that book, or started writing it, if I’d been working a fancy full-time job or had moved to a new city. 

I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. But I do believe that sometimes life hands us twists and turns that can become blessings we never could have imagined.

So I’m envisioning putting an arm around that twenty-two-year-old version of me and whispering, It’s going to be okay. Keep writing. 

I’m so glad she did.

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