#RealDeal: 10 lessons learned while being 28

#RealDeal: 10 lessons learned while being 28

I guess I just never realized how closed off emotionally I have been my whole life. The Shaman tried telling me a few times ... (very very very much appreciate all your help Brendan), but it took falling in love for me to actually see it. You can't see how selfish you are as a person until you have to become selfless. I can hear some of our earlier conversations and I'm genuinely embarrassed. I know I can't go back, and I know there's nothing I can do about it, but I even apologized to my dad the other day. I thought back to how selfish I was as a teenager, young adult, ::whispers:: and even when I was a-not-so-young-adult. He of course just laughed, and said it's what you do as a parent when you love your child.

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#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen: You become a fish out of water
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen: You become a fish out of water

Without too much of a backstory (as I tend to ramble) … earlier this year, I went on a dating detox that actually lead me (at first reluctantly) into a pretty specfuckingtacular relationship. He's not only my best friend … he is like a sensei. Outside of my parents who taught me my ABC's and basic morals, I've never learned so much from a single person.

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#TrueStory: My Conversation With A Spider
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#TrueStory: My Conversation With A Spider

After getting out of the shower this morning, I saw a small-ish creepy brown spider trying to get out of the sink. Instinct kicked in and I turned on the water and started rinsing him down. He fought it hard, and my empathy kicked in. “You’re right, that was rude, I’m sorry.” I literally said that out loud as I turned off the water.

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#RealDeal: Burdens of a Bouncer
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#RealDeal: Burdens of a Bouncer

I haven't been a bouncer for long. Lord knows I have far less stories to tell than the average seen it all bouncer at any bar. I can only say that being a bouncer puts you in another world. A world where you are what stands between the drinker and the drink they want.

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#NerdsUnite: An ode to my 28th year
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#NerdsUnite: An ode to my 28th year

As I stare down the barrel of my 29th birthday, my personal growth over the last year is coming into focus. And for the first time in maybe my entire adult life, I’m happy with me.

28 started the way any good birthday should - in a drunken haze with my best friends. But this one was different. I was circling the drain on several friendships - longterm, beautiful, happy friendships that I valued. But still, they were failing.

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#ShitGotReal: Well, this good news was certainly unexpected ...
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#ShitGotReal: Well, this good news was certainly unexpected ...

I don't even know how to write this. A part of me is so deliriously excited, but another is just calm and extremely grateful for even just this present moment.

My life has changed a lot this year. It was rather unexpected, but these last few months in particular have been some of the best of my life.

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#NerdsUnite: Pussycat ball turns hairy
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#NerdsUnite: Pussycat ball turns hairy

I consider myself to be a fairly open minded person despite my upbringing. I had what I would call a “conveyor belt childhood” where I grew up in an average sized town, in an average sized house, with average adolescent experiences. I graduated high school with average grades and attended an average 4 year university afterwards.

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#NerdsUnite: Finding a Sense of Belonging at 5,000ft
Life Jen Friel Life Jen Friel

#NerdsUnite: Finding a Sense of Belonging at 5,000ft

Ever since I found out that my roommate Jonny was a paragliding instructor I had been trying to get my ass in the air. I always wanted to be a pilot when I was a child and flying fascinates me. Finally, our schedules aligned and my fly day had arrived. I woke up early and snuck in a workout that morning before we headed out. We gathered three of these gigantic backpacks ...

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#Fact: The only person I've been fighting is myself
Dating, Life Jen Friel Dating, Life Jen Friel

#Fact: The only person I've been fighting is myself

I kept seeking validation in "being that girl that did that thing." I had to keep working and keep building something that was bigger than me so I felt better on the inside. You go, go, go ... work, work, work, ... do, do, do because you're afraid to be still, and afraid to sit with yourself.

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