Posts in Dreams
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Worst & Best Year of My Life: A Comeback Story
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Worst & Best Year of My Life: A Comeback Story

After college, everyone is going to tell you that life is hard. The real world can be tough. To just have faith. That you’re worth more than your mindless desk job or your asshole ex-boyfriend or your student debt. And all of that is true. So, so true. Listen to those people.

But what they won't tell you is that when the joy of graduation has worn away, when you're loosed upon this crazy world, you might gaze into the rest of eternity and wonder what the hell you're supposed to do now. You might be scared to death. And you might have to wait a while to really feel worth a damn again. It may take a month, six months, two years, five.

Read More
Life, Relationships, DreamsKristen HartsfieldFrom the Archives, FeaturedComment
Returning to the Desert: When Life Feels Dry and Despairing
Returning to the Desert: When Life Feels Dry and Despairing

I have friends who are in the desert right now. Life feels dry; hope feels impossible. Every day is the same, wandering through an endless stretch of sand and rocks without a clear sense of direction, the sun beating down without reprieve. As the infinitely-wise sociologist and author Brené Brown writes, “Despair is a spiritual condition. It’s the belief that tomorrow will be just like today.” The desert feels so much like a place of despair, a place of death.

Read More
Dreams, Life, Health, Relationships, TravelAlly WillisFeatured Comment
On Eating Queso and Failing to Reach My New Year's Goals
On Eating Queso and Failing to Reach My New Year's Goals

Honestly, I haven’t been immune to the feelings of shame that come when you look at your goals and see how much you didn’t accomplish, the unchecked boxes on your to-do list nagging you for the inability to keep up. I’ve carried much of this shame through December, and especially through last week, when I had so much I wanted to get done that did not, at all, get done.

Read More
Dreams, RelationshipsAlly WillisFeaturedComment
Top 10 Most-Read Posts of 2017
Top 10 Most-Read Posts of 2017

We owe everyone who has contributed their stories at least a year’s worth of lattes as a token of our gratitude, but alas, this simple “thank you” will have to carry the weight of our appreciation instead. Thank you, thank you to everyone who has written for, read, and supported That First Year this past year. We exist because of and for YOU and we can't wait for what 2018 will bring to this community. 

Here are the top 10 most-read posts of 2017. Enjoy these stories from some incredible writers.

Read More
Career, Dreams, Grad School, Graduation, Health, Life, Money, Our Favorite Things, Politics, Relationships, Style, TravelAlly WillisFeaturedComment
A Beginner's Guide to Self-Discipline
A Beginner's Guide to Self-Discipline

Once I realized that Discipline is not a bad hang, I started inviting him in to spruce up other areas of my life. Meal prepping, writing when I don’t feel like it, practicing guitar, journaling, keeping my living spaces pretty—all these things require the wisdom and care of Discipline. I have found that my creativity, free-spirit nature, and whimsical planning are only as good as the boundaries of self-discipline they are held within.

Read More
Dreams, Health, LifeChelsey SatterleeFeaturedComment
1 in 68: Living in the "Real World" With Autism
1 in 68: Living in the "Real World" With Autism

It happens pretty much every time. I freak out, start to doubt what I can do and believe that I don’t deserve any sort of success. I tend to run through these thoughts over and over in my head, and everything speeds up faster and faster, as if my brain is a steam engine nearing the last stop on a railroad track. When someone asks me, “What’s wrong?” or “How can I help you?” I don’t even know what to say. When I try to open my mouth to say what I need, I can’t even get the words right. At times, I feel like an imposter, not ready to face the real world like the cool, confident women I aspire to be like.

Read More
Dreams, LifeAbby ProwantComment
Why You're Not Accomplishing Your Goals (and How to Start)
Why You're Not Accomplishing Your Goals (and How to Start)

It’s the beginning of a new season in your life. You’re committed to getting more clients, making more money, having more of an impact in your community. You’re setting your goals, your intentions, making your “must accomplish” list.

Flash-forward: It’s the end of the month. It’s halfway through the year. It’s December 31. Those goals you set? Halfway done or never touched. No progress. What gives?

Read More
Career, DreamsTori DunlapComment
On Quitting Your Dream Job
On Quitting Your Dream Job

But after a while, and in my classic twenty-something fashion, I began to feel restless. I wasn't sure exactly what it was I wanted anymore. Because my heart is similar to Augustus Gloop in that it's greedy. It wants to know all of the outcomes. It wants to know which path to take before I have to take a single step. It wants freedom. It wants travel. It wants stability. And more often than not, it wants chocolate.

Read More
Career, DreamsAlyssa VottoFeaturedComment
The Bravery in Quitting
The Bravery in Quitting

Refusing to quit has undoubtedly served me well in my 24-years. It is the reason I can sing now even though I was described as a tone-deaf child. It is responsible for the 60 pounds I have lost and kept off in the last three years. It has been the backbone of healing and strength and the two Whole 30s I have completed, but it has also been harmful. I become faithful to a fault, unable to walk away from things, like a sport I am not good at, because I have something to prove. Because I think it makes me weak to leave something instead of toughing it out.

Read More
Life, Health, Career, DreamsChelsey SatterleeFeaturedComment