Less is More – Love For 30 Project

Again, if you are interested in guest posting about being in your 30s, be sure to email me!

Less is More
My older and occasionally wiser sister prepped me in advance. During a particularly despairing day in my 20s, she reassured me, it will be better in your 30s. Everything, for some reason, feels so much better in your 30s.

And a lot did. Has.

But what strikes me the most about my newfound attitude towards life in my 30s is not necessarily that I have an extra dose of confidence (though I do), not that I am more open-minded (I am), not that I take more pride in my accomplishments to-date instead of wallowing in the future and what it may or may not hold (I do…sometimes) – the thing that has really summed up my 30s for me thus far is this:

Less is more.

In so many ways.

It started with friends. I love mine dearly, but once I added baby number two to the work/marriage/house/me time mix, I found that my real-life friends list started to dwindle (despite my Facebook one continuously growing) and I was perfectly ok with that. Some new have replaced some old, some old have resurfaced anew, but there is undoubtedly strength in numbers here, and less is more.

Then it moved onto work. I work for myself as a consultant so less work means less money, which is never an easy pill to swallow. But I found a way to do just that, to focus on projects that I get excited about, to pass on the ones that don’t, and to (most of the time) realize that less work means more time with my kids and for myself, and that is beyond any bank balance at the end of the day.

Then it found its way into my closet. I started to shy away from “fast fashion” finds and now focus on a few choice items that I can mix and match to my heart’s delight, now and in ten years from now. I don’t need five “it” bags, I need one good one that I love, no matter what the season or trend du jour. That big old engagement ring I coveted so much in my 20s? Often gets skipped over for the simple diamond eternity band that symbolizes happiness instead of stature.

A quiet Friday night with some music playing and the kids rolling around at my feet is so much more than any of the Friday nights of my past. Birthday parties are smaller. Recipes are simpler. Budgets are tighter, intentionally (well, we are working on that).

Less has truly become so much more.

In so many ways.

Except one…

When it comes to the pinot noir.

Guest Blogger
Raluca
Age 33
WhatWouldGwynethDo.com
Twitter: @wwgwynethdo

photo source: http://prettystuff.tumblr.com/