Tackling the Dread Surrounding My 35th Birthday

Today is my 35th birthday and it has caused more of an existential crisis than I anticipated.

Birthdays have never seemed like any particular milestone other than hitting the legal drinking and voting age where I lived. That said, I was taken by surprise with my tearfulness when reading happy birthday messages.

The past few years have been chaotic between working on a counselling master’s, having a workplace mental health injury, took an extensive break from alcohol, the pandemic, moving in with my partner, doing an internship, building on my stand-up comedy, and organizing a business. My head was spinning just as I typed all of that.

The only reasons I can see for this sudden feeling of impending doom and existentialism are:

1. An Identity Crisis

2. Inconsistency in Healthy Habits

Identity Crisis

I am realizing that being a graduate student and working toward the goal of being a counsellor became a piece of my identity. Since September of 2019, my focus became papers, learning and business planning. Now, my practice is about to open and the question of “Now what?” is surfacing.

Additionally, my identity as a nurse is about to shift. I’ve been working in a multitude of…