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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I’m 21 and anxious about the future. How do I take care of myself without living in a bubble?

United States Eleanor GordonSmith
Painting of a woman sitting on the edge of a creek in an orange top and skirt, bathing her legs and feet.
‘Think about it more. Try to expand what you can control,’ writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Painting: Woman Bathing Her Feet in a Brook by Camille Pissarro. Photograph: Alamy

I’m 21, and all my life I’ve been anxious about the future. It’s not getting better. There are a lot of things that worry me – no job prospects even with a degree under my belt; I won’t be able to find a partner who will respect me; I’ll never own a house. And outside these, of course, I’m worried about climate change and global politics.

The advice I have been offered is to “not think about it” or “focus on what I personally can control”. But I have dreams and aspirations; I want to be a writer and an artist and I am working harder than ever to make those things happen, even if AI might make those fields even more competitive. So my question is: How do I balance my dreams and aspirations practically, and take care of myself, without living in a bubble?

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