Things I Will Never Apologize For. And Neither Should You.

As I’m nearing the end of my mid-30s (I will officially be in my late-ish 30s next month), I’m finding that there are still many, many things I could care less about. I recently shared an old The Everygirl article about things that get better after 30 and had a couple of people reply about how liberating it is to not care about what other people think of you slash think what you should be doing. I couldn’t agree more, but I didn’t wake up one day and immediately stop caring. I think it was a slow and careful process to get to this point—and I know I’m not completely disconnected from people’s opinion of me just yet.

So, I figured I’d put together a list of things I know some people (including myself, on at least one occasion) judge other people for and think you should continue doing and not give a shit about what people say about it. Life is too short to edit yourself just so no one else will rag on you. I mean, let them worry about their own lives, right?

I will take a million selfies and I’ll post them (or not). When did it become a crime to take a photo of yourself? I think it’s normal. Who cares if it’s a teensy bit narcissistic? I mean is it wrong to like how you look in a certain light or in a certain angle? And if you don’t like taking selfies, well, nobody is forcing you to take them. Plus, you are more than welcome to mute/unfollow me if you don’t like seeing those things on your feed. I swear, it’s fine.

Laugh out loud. Sure, there are days when I’ll giggle in secret and talk in my indoor voice, but laughing with all that I’ve got is pretty awesome, too.

Find out about a bad movie and watch it anyway. I’ve been warned. I know what I’m getting into. So, it’s completely my fault for wasting my own time. Haha!

I’ll put on makeup when I want to and skip it when I feel like it. We’re always trying to make people feel bad about their choices. Not enough skin care, too much makeup, or even both. But it’s all a matter of preference, right? I mean, when I wake up to good skin, of course I’ll skip everything but moisturizer and bask in it. But does it make me high maintenance to spend a few more minutes on blending out my eye makeup, perfecting my winged liner, and figuring out how the heck to contour my cheeks? So what if it does. I enjoy it and I’d like to think I look good after those extra 15 minutes in front of the mirror.

Take photos of my food. It’s not even so I can post it on Instagram stories. Sometimes, I just like recording what I consume. Sometimes I look at them as reference for illustrations or they serve as a makeshift catalog of food I enjoyed. Sorry in advance if we’re sharing a plate and you’re embarrassed when I stand up to take a top shot of our spread. LOL!

Shamelessly self-promote. Because my #1 fan is myself and when I’m proud of something I worked on, you best believe I shall broadcast it everywhere. You can choose not to click it, anyway. So.

Pull tarot cards and read my horoscope. As long as it makes me feel good about life, I shall continue doing it. I like that tarot cards have been a way for me to make sense of all that goes on in my head and that certain horoscopes remind me that things will turn out fine. You don’t have to believe it, but I do. (:

This isn’t even all of it, but I’m pretty sure you also have a similar list. I guess what I’m just trying to say here (if it weren’t clear enough) is if you’re not hurting anyone and it makes you happy, you shouldn’t be sorry about doing something. You don’t need to explain your reasons and no one should make you feel bad for it!

And in the most awkward segue, speaking of my 30s, I guested with Chinggay on our friend and fellow Future Media Empire cohort Patty‘s podcast. We talk about being single in our 30s and being fine (or on the way to fine, anyway). Give it a listen if you want to!