Throughout my travels,
I’ve met many fellow twenty-five-year-olds
who I’ve noticed are all going through the same
brain exploding,
euphoric,
terrifying moment in life
just as I am.
At age twenty-five,
our brains are fully developed.
Of course, throughout the rest of our lives
we are still learning and unlearning things,
but our brains at twenty-five
are vital as they’ve ever been,
and as powerful as they will ever be.
At twenty-five, we see everything.
When I had about twenty-two years,
I started to see more of life’s miraculous yet tragic nuances
in my daily experiences.
But nothing compares
to the world I’m finally seeing now.
It’s overwhelming.
That’s why many of us twenty-five-year-olds
are confused and existential:
we are wholly and finally seeing how large,
beautiful,
and Dionysian the world is
while trying to figure out how to live in it
at the same time.
That’s why I’ve met so many other fellow twenty-five-year-olds
on my travels,
particularly solo travelers.
At twenty-five, we no longer think
that we are in the center of the world,
like we did when we were children.
We have a hunch for something
bigger than ourselves.
A spiritual inkling.
And we go looking for it.
What are we doing here?
What have humans made of the world?
God, we must have screwed it up.
Maybe part of being a twenty-five-year-old
is finally asking those questions.
Maybe it’s about realizing
that life is not about what we “should” be doing,
like conquering or accomplishing something.
Perhaps life isn’t all about leaving behind a legacy,
or looking the most beautiful,
or gaining the most success.
At this moment, at age twenty-five,
I’m slowly realizing
that life is just about being alive
for the short amount of time
you get on this earth.
Just like all of the trees, lakes, mountains, oceans,
there is no other reason we are here
than to just enjoy it.
There is no purpose
or more enormous deed
to accomplish with life.
We are just here to be alive.
All twenty-five-year-olds
finally have access to the answers
to all of their questions.
But what if the answer
is to stop asking questions?
To finally be silent?
That’s why all of us twenty-five-year-olds
are walking around together:
we are trying to become silent enough
to hear our feelings.
Ali Walks Around 