Excerpted from Justin's Facebook...Truth time:
I'm turning 30 in about a week... Partly, my feelings are muted sadness that I'm exiting my '20s, and partly, they include a deep excitement for the next stage of my life. The past ten years were hard as hell, and my biggest regret, I think, is feeling that at a certain point in my '20s I let the world convince me that I was flawed or incomplete.
When I was an undergrad there were passions I had, which I committed myself to and refused to lose. I played music on the radio for hours overnight for the radio station. I would read for fun. I let myself dream.
Now that I'm older, these are important things I don't do as much. I don't write as much as I did. I don't dance as much. I don't let myself cry very often... hardly ever. But at this time in my life, there are so many other things that I do. I take photos... really good ones. I'm really freaking good at my jobs. I'm passionate and I'm true to my beliefs.
It may be true that I am flawed and incomplete... but that's ok. We all are, and that is exactly what makes us people so beautiful. As I get ready to turn 30, as I sit here and write this, the single thought that's rising up for me more than any other is how important it is to forgive. And it's not just to forgive yourself, or your family, or your exes, or whoever has hurt your most... It includes those. But it's also deeper than that. It's to forgive the world, and to forgive the flaws inherent to it and to everyone in it.
That's not to say we should stop fighting for what's right... As I turn 30 my convictions have become even more important to me. But they are colored by greater complexity... and that's a good thing.
As I turn 30, I want to invest in my passions. I want to push myself harder... and I want to play more. I want to fight harder for what's right... and to give permission to myself to trip up sometimes, since it seems that that's how I learn things.
I want to allow myself to be myself. Much love to you friends.
I'm turning 30 in about a week... Partly, my feelings are muted sadness that I'm exiting my '20s, and partly, they include a deep excitement for the next stage of my life. The past ten years were hard as hell, and my biggest regret, I think, is feeling that at a certain point in my '20s I let the world convince me that I was flawed or incomplete.
When I was an undergrad there were passions I had, which I committed myself to and refused to lose. I played music on the radio for hours overnight for the radio station. I would read for fun. I let myself dream.
Now that I'm older, these are important things I don't do as much. I don't write as much as I did. I don't dance as much. I don't let myself cry very often... hardly ever. But at this time in my life, there are so many other things that I do. I take photos... really good ones. I'm really freaking good at my jobs. I'm passionate and I'm true to my beliefs.
It may be true that I am flawed and incomplete... but that's ok. We all are, and that is exactly what makes us people so beautiful. As I get ready to turn 30, as I sit here and write this, the single thought that's rising up for me more than any other is how important it is to forgive. And it's not just to forgive yourself, or your family, or your exes, or whoever has hurt your most... It includes those. But it's also deeper than that. It's to forgive the world, and to forgive the flaws inherent to it and to everyone in it.
That's not to say we should stop fighting for what's right... As I turn 30 my convictions have become even more important to me. But they are colored by greater complexity... and that's a good thing.
As I turn 30, I want to invest in my passions. I want to push myself harder... and I want to play more. I want to fight harder for what's right... and to give permission to myself to trip up sometimes, since it seems that that's how I learn things.
I want to allow myself to be myself. Much love to you friends.