I’m 30 in a shabby share house in Fitzroy.I’m OK With It | Tim McGlone

My father turned 30 in 1990, and by that time he had found my mother and had a house with kids and dogs and a large backyard for dogs and kids to run around. 30 years old at the time.

This month I turned 30 and celebrated with about 20 buddies, lots of beer, and an Oasis cover band I’m hiring to play at the expensive and run-down share house I rent in Fitzroy. increase. Also 30.

I am pleasantly surprised to find out how happy I am with this situation.

I think this isn’t a “hey, 30 isn’t that bad” article, it’s subjective. can be pretty awful. I’m not the one to judge that.

But because of this generational comparison, there’s a growing number of people my age who live extraordinary lives but can’t see it. It’s an idea I specialized in not so long ago, when I was plagued with anxiety about my progress as a human being during a crisis in my life.

Our generation has developed an unhealthy propensity for this mindset, which is in many ways reinforced by social media.

I see photos on Instagram of friends with children. Lovingly photographing, the newlyweds stare at each other in their black-and-white wedding photos and ponder how well their lives look, like some sort of happy ending. that’s right. life is out there.

Life is good here too. Think about that 3 a.m. wine session with a friend, that deep conversation you couldn’t have a few years ago. You probably won’t be as bold as trying after a few years of being married and having kids. I am also in my 30s.

We naturally compare ourselves to our parents who act like a compass for better or worse (much better in my case). When we need to make a decision, we can understand the broad path they have carved out to guide us.

In 1990, when my father turned 30, the average home price in the Australian capital was $117,571, four times the average annual income. Today, the same house costs $1,065,447, or 11.5 times the average annual income. We’re often criticized for whining, but this is the cold truth.I’m 30 now and it’s a tough time to buy a home.

Still, the people who spent the 2010s in our 20s (I wish our decade had catchy names like the 80s and 90s) were like our parents. Blessed and cursed with choices that weren’t there. Why do you care about housing?

You have the option to be open to your gender, clothing, sexuality, and life choices and choose your own identity rather than making choices for yourself.

Careers are diverse and changeable. Options include travel, safe drug use, and festivals. Lose the plot with Meredith for a few days before you get rocked by your office work on Monday.

Anticipation also fuels hopes, ambitions, and disappointments. The schools and colleges we graduated from taught us what great things we were going to do.Pixar movies led us to believe we should have discovered that Until now.

I have never written a world famous novel. I am single and a little crippled with student loans.

But I’m happier than last year and the year before. i love my job And there will be a lot of people around me on my birthday not spent in lockdown.

All of this doesn’t justify my life when compared to others, it’s just a comment on how things would change if I put another positive lens in it. We compare ourselves to others so no one cares what you do or don’t do.

• Tim McGlone is a Melbourne-based writer. He writes about sports, food, travel and farming. @mcglone77