Witches Mag, Issue #5: Time

Life on a Timeline

By Bre Taylor My villain origin story is spending two birthdays in quarantine. In March of 2020, I had a lot of baggage. I had just written an incredibly dramatic letter to my coworkers about racism in the workplace, I had just canceled my senior spring break trip to Miami (somehow I think my quarantine alcohol intake still made up for this), my father had just been rushed to the hospital with COVID-19, and I was coming to the realization that I wouldn’t have an in-person college graduation. It’s safe to say, Aries season was a real bitch to me.

Like many of my peers, I pictured my life on a timeline. First big-girl job at 21, a one-bedroom NYC apartment at 23, X amount in savings by 25, engaged by 27, and all the other boxes that I’m sure most of you expected to have checked by 30.

Looking back, none of this was impossible, it just didn’t fit into the life I was creating.

I am a dreamer. No goal is unattainable because my mother told me that I could be anything I wanted to be—and I believed her.

From March until September, for the first time ever, I worked really hard on myself. I took the time to really attain goals outside of a career, outside of money. Similar to Zendaya, I had always defined myself by my occupation or what other people had defined me as: a student, employee, intern. Being surrounded by my friends and family showed me that I had other titles that were just as, if not more, important: a listener, reader, lover. I took the time to really think about what I’d accomplished in 22 years and what I could accomplish in 22 more. I thought of life outside of a timeline: What happens if I’m not in the job I want at 25? What happens if I’m not married by 30? Who am I then? I’m still my mother’s daughter, I still love reading, I still love going to the movies by myself and spending too much on popcorn. In 22 years, I could make all the money in the world, but what would that mean if I didn’t know myself outside of what I could buy?

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