I’ve spent time collecting a new “batch” of ideas to write about over the holidays (hope you had a good holiday season) and into the new year (happy new year). Partially because it was easier to use that excuse than to sit down and actually crack open The Newsletter again. I’ve been occupied with learning hard lessons since 2025 started, lessons I’m grateful for, but tough nonetheless.
Something I’ve recently been chewing on is the concept of what we “deserve” in our 20’s and 30’s. I say “we” because most of you reading this are within this age range, if you’re not, you can email me any discrepancies, complaints, or corrections at chasecrowan@gmail.com – I would love to get a conversation going. Moving on…
I’ve been sitting on the idea that at the age of 27, I’m not meant to have fun all the time… we are not meant to have fun all the time. We don’t deserve it either. We didn’t earn it yet.
In an age where social media, pop culture, and sometimes even those around us, fervently convinces us that life is meant to be enjoyed at all times and long-term benefits are just something to consider while we savor the now – we must to realize that our true calling as creators, artists, intellectuals… as human beings, is to spend our early years building a foundation that we can enjoy the fruits of later in life. To toil hard at work and spend the hours cultivating ideas that will pay us back when we don’t have the time to take the big risks anymore. To over-extend now, so that we can work out the details later. To “downgrade” our expectations of what we could be doing in order to build something truly worthwhile.
Although the term is extremely oversaturated and somewhat elementary, perhaps this is The Newsletters revelatory moment where it documents the concept of "locking in” – But I like to think that it's much more than that. It's a reality check I feel lucky to have gotten and obligated to share. Coming from someone who has both aged and matured in the midst of a generation seeking meaning and self-worth in all of the things that will inadvertently strip you of what motivation we have left, now is the best time to do the thing you’ve been contemplating. So we go – and we make it work.
