What do 3 millennial women in their 30s talk about when they get together?

 So the title of this post is a little misleading if you don't have some background info.

3 MILLENIAL WOMEN, in very different places in their lives- both literally and figuratively- walk into a bar... sort of. 

This past week, despite Covid-19 still looming, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with two of my best friends. All in our 30s, all living in different states, all leading very different lifestyles. The two  East Coast gals rode together to the very start of the 'Mid West' to re-unite with the 3rd... it had probably been years since the 3 of us were together like this. 

Just a little background info on the 3 women, to set the scene
J1- 33, lives in NJ with her husband, daughter (2), baby #2 on the way, and dog. Has a bachelor's degree, owns her own business and works for herself, joint owns a house and car with her immigrant hubby who does white collar work in the budding cannabis industry (pun intended).

J2- 32, lives in Mass. Never married, has 2 kids (12 & 10) who split time between mom and dad. Her mom lives with HER, and 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 3 bunnies. Has a bachelor's degree, works for a fortune 500 company, owns her own house and gets a company car (PERKS). Single and ready to mingle- but picky.

K1- 34, lives in Wisconsin(recently transplanted there) with her hubby, dog, and 2 cats. Has a bachelor's degree, works 2 jobs, owns her house and car, hubby recently left the military (thank you for your service, sir!).

Fun fact- all three of us women received our bachelor degrees from the SAME college, in the mid 2000's. That's right, we met in college and ARE STILL FRIENDS. Not one of us was in the same major, but we were all in the same sorority. We have known each other since before we knew our husbands and before our children (human and fur) even existed! The college and the sorority has changed since our days there- it's a actually a university now!- and we, as individuals, have changed too. 

So here you have 3 college educated women, 3 badass women who went out into the world and forged their own paths, coming back together to rekindle the bonds of sisterhood. WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT?!
EVERYTHING. ANYTHING. Recent life changes, personal dilemmas, mid life crisis, pursuing dreams and opportunities, the reality or lack thereof of dreams.
We live in a world where a conversation between even the best friends can go south quickly, a world where the place - the state- in which you live can influence your world views drastically.
As we got to Wisconsin, we realized we were right by KENOSHA, a very recent epicenter for more social unrest in the country. The East Coasters were surprised by boarded up store fronts in nearby Madison, WI - only later to find out that this was done preemptively in fear of riots and had stayed like this for a month already. The Covid numbers were on the rise, possibly due to large universities coming back into session. That's a little bit of a shock from suburban NJ and Mass. The (recent) Wisconsonite knew that Jersey was coming from an area of massive lock down... where taxes and cost of living are high and the local/state economy had ground to a HALT. Work and income had been lost, although health had been preserved. Mass hadn't seen clients in person since March and sales were DOWN- she had to work while 'on vacation' to keep in good standing with upper management and even have a virtual client meeting because that's all she can get. Her kids were doing half virtual, half in person school. Swim team would go on, but meets would be 'virtual' as well. A new normal had taken over.
3 women, trying to make sense of a world gone mad. 3 women finding a ray of sunshine in the haze- real haze, from the wildfires burning the the west. 3 women just happy to be together and ready to share their lives with each other in depth, share some laughs and tears and good food and drinks.
3 millennial women, still trying to figure out their careers and life paths, still debating higher education, still searching for a place to call home, still looking for and love and fulfillment. The search for love comes in different forms for each of them- maybe love in the form of a partner, love in the form of self love, or love in the form of  of self fulfillment. Purpose. Each one questions their purpose in this world and what will fulfill them. 

Even though we lead very different lives right now, we have similar roots. We enjoy reminiscing about our college days but we don't dwell on it. It barely came up during this get together, because it's not ALL that we have. We enjoy telling stories of post college get togethers- and we lament that they have become fewer and farther in between. 
Even more, we enjoyed looking at ourselves in the NOW and laying out our fears and thoughts and hopes for the future.

3 women, all contemplating higher education approximately 10 years after receiving bachelor's degrees. All wondering which way to go- mostly due to the level of success stemming from the first 4 years of loans, I mean EDUCATION. All wondering what should take precedence: interest in subject matter, or ability to find a better paying job. All realizing this was a question we may not have considered hard enough when we were undergrads. Strangely enough, all 3 of us were considering Masters in Business degrees, but each agreeing it's so generic and boring-- although it makes a really nice line on a resume. Agroecology, animal behavior, and even marketing sounded like so much more fun. 

3 women, each agreeing they were not happy with how things had panned out and were ready for a change. All hated corporate American business structure. All hated the "money over happiness" theme that plagues working Americans. One already started her own company because she didn't want to deal with bosses anymore. One wanted to give up the high level of income she'd become accustomed to to start a non profit. One wanted to move of the grid and be 100% self sustainable- if at all possible. Electric cars, composting, social justice, taxes, our health, wanting to move, Tik Tok being banned, the point of SnapChat ... all topics of discussion.

Arguments, discussions that required yelling or walking away? NONE. Level headed conversations with mutual respect are a beautiful thing. Don't act like we don't know that our politics differ. We know, we acknowledge, and we pick and choose what's really important. Who's walking into the polls, who's mailing in their ballot, and who thinks they don't know enough about it to bother is IRRELEVANT in the grand scheme of things. Each of us KNOWS the other people, knows something about their heart and mind and just... respects and loves them. 

3 millennial women, just loving being able to spend time with each other. Just happy to have sisterhood in some form, friendship in a true form, and knowing that we love and respect each other. 3 strong, proud, ever changing women. 3 very different women, and yet very much the same. 3 women with so much life still ahead of us, with good friends to support us and lift us up- and also disagree with us if they feel so inclined. And that's fine, because everyone has an opinion and the right to express it. 

I am so happy to be in my early 30s with good friends, even if they live far away, to love and support me and share old memories and make new ones with. 

And I hope none of us get Covid from this endeavor, but I also hope the world doesn't end soon because 2020 is a shit show and if you believe in the Rapture, it sure f*c*ing looks like it might be happening. But these 3 badass chicks got a lot more living and learning and world changing to do so .......