I recently moved to DC and celebrated my birthday in September. It’s expected that in your late twenties, you should have your shit figured out: have a boyfriend/fiance, career, masters, job, maybe a kid (or two), traveled the world, on your way to owning a home, have a car, start saving for your retirement, have a designer couture bag, and a couple of pets for good measure. And if you are “Desi” all of those should happen in your early twenties (or teens even). By 30 if those are not done, you’re pretty much a loser. There is something wrong with you.

But even in American society the pressure is real. Girls these days must develop so fast. They are not given time to grow spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, sexually, morally, intellectually, socially, let alone physically. Get a career, get a boyfriend, get a car, get, get, get. And for guys, the pressure is even worse. I sometimes wonder why it took so long for me to move and come to DC. The process was a slow one. But I sincerely believe that all of my experiences facilitated my move to DC and created a space for me in this city. I finally feel that I can have a sense of community.

That being said, 2014, so far, has been pretty phenomenal: I went to London and Paris, got to see my cousins again who live abroad, I moved to a new city, I work in a wonderful organization, I got invited to the White House and got selected to sit front row to former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama as they spoke about how important service is for American society on the 20th anniversary of Americorps. I have the wonderful opportunity to do research for the Library of Congress’s publishing office. And most importantly I live closer to my best friend from middle school! The universe has a process. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I’m not going to worry about it. Peace!