Thirty
A nice reflection by Erika L Sánchez about the status anxieties of turning 30, especially when comparing your successes to those of previous generations of 30-year-olds:
When I get my student loan bills, I ask myself many questions: should I get a regular job like a real grownup and just write on the side? When will I be able to afford to have children? Will this happen before my eggs go off? How long can I go on living on the cusp of financial ruin?
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I’ve taken a long look at my own situation and have come to the conclusion that my biggest enemy in life is Status Anxiety. The truth is, if it wasn’t for my substantial SA, I would have been able to escape a year ago. Right now I only have a modicum of control over my SA. I hope to change that this year, namely by following Alain de Botton’s advice.
The other thing that I have come to realize is that SA mitigation is something that needs to be cultivated. If you’re not vigilant, SA can come back and bite you hard when you least expect it (spending Thanksgiving with the in-laws, for instance).
Maybe we should write more about SA in NE. Do you have Issue 5 though? We probably talk most about it there. AdB interview and lots of stuff about Bohemianism as a solution.