Adulting According to This Square Peg.

Let me tell you what adulting looks like to TSP these days.

Spa memberships. When masseuses that had the pleasure of trying to smooth over these decades-long stressed out bones would inform me that I needed to have monthly massages, I would think: uh, where is that money coming from? (Specifically, I would silently nod and smile, knowing they’d see me maybe in another year or so.) But your Square Peg had a massage last month that changed my life. The pain I had been carrying for years in my hip/lower back area? My masseuse put her all into that appointment. I left with no pain. Even the soreness I had some days later was sweet misery, emphasis on sweet, because I knew she had done something. And when that soreness ended, so did my hip/back pain. So I went ahead and signed up for a monthly membership that I will be making use of. Because, these days, adulting looks like not suffering if I don’t have to.

Cooking my own food. Yeah, you read that right. The long soft spot of ordering food from DoorDash or UberEats has ended. For the past few weeks, your Square Peg has been sparking up the oven, the stove, the air fryer; marinating meats, planning meals, sending photos of her meals to astounded friends and family. Even my puppy is like, wonder what she’s doing in that room over there. Here’s the thing about me in the kitchen: I grew up cooking our household meals along with my mom and sister. We switched off. So contrary to what is assumed by my penchant for bringing forks or napkins as my contributions to get-togethers, I do know how to do some tings. But I’m a shy cook. Anxiety over what it’ll taste like/will the eater collapse keeps me from doing too much. But my confidence is growing. Why? My food tastes good to me! So, these days, adulting looks like saving my coins from exorbitant delivery fees and learning to enjoy both the process and the output of my culinary efforts.

Journaling. Your Square Peg considers this space on the Interwebs to be a journal, of sorts, but if you’re keeping up, you also know that I invented the term sporadic posting. Life, you know. But lately, I have been keeping up with more personal journaling via the journal app on my iPhone, and it’s been tremendous. Back in the day, I kept diaries from middle school through college and it was amazing. Reading them back is always enlightening. (But along the way, someone will have to burn those things.) Anywho, my little phone journal is incredible. I’ve loved doing it regularly again. So, these days, adulting means spilling my guts by way of opposable thumbs.

What does adulting look like for you these days? Share your grown-up wins.