Posted in partnership with Keeps.
It’s official: I am getting older! Well, we all are. It’s crazy to think I’ve been writing this blog for almost a decade. So much has changed since this young twenty-one year old guy hit publish on his first blog post, not least getting married and emigrating to a new country. It’s been a wild ride but I can say that as I get older I am, on the whole, loving life as I feel more comfortable in myself. I feel braver about making decisions for the right reasons, taking my experience over the past decade and channeling it into my decision making in a positive way.
Another thing that I really love about getting older is finally being able to invest the money I’ve saved and saved and saved into my own home, like the renovation of our beautiful master bath at the beach house. I guess many of you, like me, rented and still rent apartments. In some ways renting is great because when things go wrong it’s not your responsibility to fix them – plus, renting can allow you to experience lots of different ways of life and properties. For example, my heartmate and I have lived in various flats in central London, a 15th-Century Cottage, a modern Manhattan condo unit and a pre-war brownstone apartment in NYC. I’ll forever be grateful that we were able to experience such a wide variety of rentals because it helped us understand what we do and don’t like about different properties. However, there’s always been something about a rental that stops it truly feeling like home – I think it’s because you can’t fully put your own stamp on it without being able to decorate without restrictions etc. So, it felt so amazing for my heartmate and I to finally be able to design a bathroom of our own. Be gone boring and inoffensive all-white bathrooms or showers tiled in nondescript beige slabs! And gone they were: we went bold and beautiful with gorgeous tile from Fireclay. (Here are the tile deets as I know you’ll wanna know: 3×6 subway tile is Adriatic Sea and 3″ hexagons on the floor are White Wash and Navy Blue).
OK, investing our savings into the master bathroom renovation at the beach house is clearly one of the things I love about getting older. But one of the things that sucks about getting older? Losing my hair. I’ve been lucky enough to have a thick head of hair most of my life but once I hit thirty I definitely started to notice it receding and thinning. Booooo! Thankfully, the kind folks at Keeps got in touch and asked me to try out their service. Keeps is a non-evasive haircare treatment for men who are experiencing the early stages of hair loss. The whole Keeps experience is great because it’s completed online (side note: I’m British so I hate awkward conversations with doctors!). You speak to a doctor online who provides treatment options that can help with your specific hair loss. Then, there is no pressure, but if you wish you can easily order the products suggested via the online portal. The process is simple, the products are well-priced and they arrive in the mail quickly with clear and simple instructions. So, if you or a man in your life is worried about hair loss be sure to check Keeps out!
Back to the things I love about getting older, in no particular order:
1. Not worrying about what people think. The older I get the more I realize it’s pointless to worry about what others think because most of the time the people you are worried are thinking negative things about you aren’t even thinking about you at all!
2. Valuing moments and my time. I now try not to wish away time. I remember rushing around so much and not taking time to savor experiences and life moments. I’m still guilty of this sometimes but I am trying to value everyday moments and my time much more than I ever did before.
3. Learning new skills. When I was at School I remember moaning about learning new skills and sports. Now I’m in my thirties I relish the opportunity to learn something new. For example, I just switched to a mirrorless camera, so I’m excited to teach myself how to use it.
4. Having more financial security. I remember the days of worrying whether my card would go through when I bought groceries or a train ticket, so to have less day-to-day financial concerns is a big weight off my mind.
Things I am hating on as I get older:
1. Planning. These days it can feel as though everything has to be planned and I miss the days of being more spontaneous. I suppose this is sort of a knock-on affect that comes with the added responsibility of owning property etc.
2. Moderation. The older I get the more I find that everything has to be done in much more moderation. For example, if I stay up super late to binge watch a TV show, or I over indulge in food or drink, I can’t bounce back or function as efficiently the following day, when I used to bounce back so much quicker.
3. Awareness. This is a funny one but I feel I am much more aware of the world now, which can cause more anxiety. When I was younger I felt as though I was much more in my own bubble. In some ways being more aware is great but other times things in the world can be upsetting, scary, and sad.
Ok so do you guys notice any changes as you get older? Am I alone in this or does this sound familiar? Also, before I sign off, wanted to let you know that all new subscribers to Keeps get the first month free (33% discount) – yay!
//Photography by Will Taylor
16 Comments
Oh man, don’t get me started!! I’m a 31 year old woman, I own a condo on my own and a house with my partner and we’ve just bought a trailer in a camp ground close to home to spend summer weekends at with the 2 kids. My last tenants were horrible! I’ve had to spend 5000$ (Canadian) to repair the damage they left. As a grown up adult, I had no choice to make the decisions and spend that unexpected money and now have to decide if I want to rent again or bite the bullet and try to sell at a loss in this crappy market. Then we have the youngest who fell in the fire pit last weekend at the camp ground!!!! 2nd degree burns on his butt and dealing with the misery of watching your 5 year old be in pain while you have to tend to his wounds and still organize a birthday party for the soon to be 7 year old. And then the body issues! As soon as I hit thirty, my hormones surged (happens to women at different state in their lives like…..every decade is a new set of issues). Now I have more acne than when I was a teenager and I’m also developing a bald spot right at the hair line of my forehead!!! But despite all that, there’s a freedom that comes with adulthood and getting older in general. Responsibilities grow exponentially but the rewards do too. I have a home, a great family, a small group of true friends, a good job, a set of acquired values and interests and a wonderful sense of awareness of myself that I didn’t have just 10 years ago. I even registered to university to get a bachelor’s degree (I just didn’t want to continue with school at 19 and I’ve grown in such a way that I now realize how good it will be for my career). When you get older, life gets harder for sure, but it also gets more wonderful in a way you could never have understood at 20. Hope the next 10 years are just as fulfilling.
@C.B. – Thank you for sharing your story with me. I hope your 5-year old is recovering well after the accident – poor thing. Sending healing vibes! I completely agree that as we grow older some things get better and some things get more troublesome. I love having more confidence in myself and who I am vs. ten years ago, for sure. Congratulations on registering at university, that’s SO exciting. We’re never too old to learn or grow. Wishing you all the best!
Will! Your bathroom is soooooooo beautiful. What a talent you are. Every detail is perfect! xoxo
@Kiana – Thank you so much, I really appreciate that.
I’m sat at my desk laughing because I relate to everything you wrote…I just turned thirty last month and I swear each of these things I’ve felt…yeah including the hair loss (!!!!!!!!)…thanks for introducing us to Keeps and for the discount…i’m gonna need it haha
@Justin – Thanks for reading and I’m glad it was useful to learn about Keeps. I’ve been using it for almost six weeks and I’ve defo noticed the thinning slowing.
Literally my fear is going bold lol so thanks for this post! And talk about #bathroomgoals Will!
@Martin – Hahaha! Get on it quick, then! And thank you, it was a lot of fun to design this space.
Hi Will,
Clicked over from your instagram and I’m so glad I did because this post really resonated with me. I’m now in my mid-thirties and I’m becoming more reflective as the years pass. I also bought property in my thirties and you are right it’s both a blessing and ‘curse’ because of the responsibilities. Ultimately they are a good ones though. Luckily no hair loss yet. 😉
Have a good day,
Quincy
@Quincy – Thanks so much for clicking over and taking the time to read the post, Quincy. Glad you still have a full head of hair – long may it last!
Ohhhh recommending this to my hubby, let’s just say he needs it 😉 LOL
@Jennifer – Happy to help! Haha!
Well done Will your bathroom is very fresh, stylish, spacious & masculine. I am on with a renovation at the moment & plan to mix Edwardian fittings with geometric floor tiles. So many wonderful options these days. Enjoy your bathroom…
@Sarah – Yes, so many beautiful options. Thank you for the kind words and all the best with your renovation!
I think I was old in my twenties, married, with a quiet, boring life and younger and more fun, more parties in my thirties. I can’t quite relate when people think they’re old in their thirties 😄 Especially, when you’re over 50 (a lady will never divulge her true age haha) You guys are young! lol You’re right about the body getting old but I’m still young in my head and my heart and always growing and learning new things. Now I sound old haha! Anyway, I love your bathroom 💙 I remember telling you I always wondered why I was following you as I didn’t like colour that much and then corrected myself because I love blue. I redid my bathroom, finished last year I think. I say that because it took forever, spanning over almost one year. I was going for the same shower glass walls and door but I had hired an inexperienced designer and my town is not the most innovative or trendy. So we ended up doing the contour of the glass only in black with no door, a step-in or walk-in, whatever you call it. It turned out really nice actually but every time I see a grid like one, I feel a little pang of envy 😄 But as I said it turned out really good, so did my kitchen renos. I had the best compliment from my niece in her 30’s recently, she said it was Pinterest worthy ☺️
@Louise – Yes, I remember! So glad they came out well and you are happy with them overall. There’s always things we’d like to do a little differently but I think that’s part and parcel with the process of a renovation. Congrats on completing them and enjoy those Pinterest worthy spaces!