Day 1, Year 5

I will be 26 soon. I feel less certain about some things, and more certain about others. A colleague said I cannot talk about my 'early twenties' until I am in my late twenties. I disagree.

I bumped into a friend I had not seen in years at the airport last Friday.

"I've changed since moving to Canberra," I said.

"In what way?"

"I grew up."

(He is one of few friends here who knew me pre-Canberra and I suspect, vice versa.)

This Saturday, I'll be chatting with Zoya and Yen about Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall at Feminartsy's Bookclub. My initial thoughts below explain in part what I mean by 'I grew up'.

... what touched me most was not Kate and Harriet's friendship but Kate's longing for a different life, a life of adventure, love and importantly, choice. I identified with her desire for something more, and was reminded of how I wanted to escape the 'burbs, to be more than 'that smart Asian girl'. Growing up, to me, means coming to terms with one's limitations; the world expands and shrinks, simultaneously.

I used to think 'Wow, that's long!' when I met people who had lived here four, five years.

I am now one of those people.