I think one of the strangest parts of your twenties is realizing how quickly your life can change without you even noticing.
You look up one day, and certain people aren’t as close to you anymore. Certain things don’t excite you the same way, and parts of your life that once felt so important suddenly feel distant.
Not even in a sad way, just different.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about refinement.
I always thought growing up was about becoming more: more put together, more attractive, more impressive, more certain of yourself. I love fashion, travel, aesthetics, documenting life, and all of the beauty in life, but I’ve been realizing there’s a difference between building a beautiful image and building a life that actually feels good to live in.
You can know how to curate yourself perfectly and still feel disconnected from your actual life. You can have good taste and still surround yourself with people who drain you. You can be desired and still feel misunderstood.
And I think once you realize that, you start paying attention differently. You pay attention to how people make you feel after spending time with them, to whether something actually brings peace into your life or just temporary excitement, and to whether something feels genuinely right for you or simply looks good from the outside.
I always thought Girl Hazard was about becoming more, but lately, I’ve realized it’s actually the opposite.
It’s refinement.
Subtracting what no longer feels right.
Editing your life more honestly.
Becoming more discerning about what deserves access to your energy.
I almost feel like I stripped back parts of my life at 22 to become more myself again.
Less noise.
Less confusion.
Less forcing things that no longer feel right just because they once did.
I think refinement makes you more honest with yourself, more aware of what actually adds value to your life and what only takes from it.
Maybe becoming more yourself has less to do with adding and more to do with what you stop carrying.
