Entry

Trials and tribulations of a late 20-something
Current Tabs

06

I've come to the age where 'Saturn returns' have become a thing you wouldn't expect to come around, but also something you shouldn't take lightly. The selections below have left a lasting mark on me, inviting me to sit with my age, reflect on what I've been through, and consider what's still to come, one way or another.

Wood Job! (2014)

Framed more as a coming-of-age film, it still feels like a movie in hug form, as the quirks of each character and what they go through grow on you as well. It reflects on choosing a slow life as much as it shines a light on the universal experience of feeling lost in teenhood. Watching it somehow felt like going on an exotic but breathtaking vacation, while also getting to know more about how Japan reveres the natural world more than anything, with its expertise and dedication in true Japanese form. What a privilege it would be to experience a forestry training programme (by way of soul-searching) in this lifetime !

Counterattacks at Thirty
by Won-pyung Sohn

Finished this book quite fast because the plot was so digestible and will have you wrapped around its finger. It was irresistible to know what happens next to the characters since it dabbles closely with how I've been feeling towards work and life lately at 28, as some of the internal monologues overlap with mine. It rings close to the reality that we all carry invisible struggles every day, but also have this yearning for a better life than what we currently have. As much as its frustrating to follow through on the process of becoming that, at the end of the day, we all just want to be seen, heard, and feel as though we exist for something far greater than the mundane and ordinary, or simply be closer to someone we all dream of becoming.

OK Tarot: The Simple Deck for Everyone
by Adam J. Kurtz

As I got into tarot and readings, it's been a way for me to make sense of the everyday and the things I'm going through, whether that's been a high or a low. This deck in particular has been my favorite so far, just for its fitting essence to the vulnerabilities, challenges, and mysteries we experience in life. Positioning itself as a more friendly and approachable deck, it takes away the pressure or fear of approaching a personal or daily reading with its minimal and charming design. As the tarot deck proclaims, as if it's the mantra: "It's not perfect, but it's okay."

Look At My Life
by Gracie Abrams

Pretty pleased with Gracie's new album rollout (including the graphics and styling!), but this song in particular sits in the sweet spot of getting what you want and still feeling unsure, and the friction of continuing to exist in society even if you're barely hanging on and fighting for your life. It's come at a timely period where I've pretty much continued to go where life takes me, even if that includes encountering setbacks and life-changing moments that have challenged my core. Like what I've been telling people and my friends, I guess there really comes a period where we're all really going through it these days.

Death of the finished state
by Brent David Freaney (Figma Config 2026)

I’m going on my 6th year since a career shift and choosing to become a designer all this time has changed me so much that I tend to think about who I even was if I hadn’t been on this path. Although I do think it eventually found me at the right time in my life because I haven’t reflected this much about who I am or who I’m becoming without having to separate it from what I do.

Brent’s nuggets of wisdom in staying true to your roots by continuing to scratch the surface of your interests and obsessions (until they run deep), being on this constant search to find your community or the people to surround yourself with, and knowing that the real work sits in collecting ideas and knowing how to sift through them and connect them all resonates with anyone just wanting to dig deeper into their existence, even if they’re not a creative or designer. Knowing that there is no finished state and being able to also explore what you don’t want to set the boundaries of what you do like, rings close to who we want ourselves to become moving forward (as someone in their aging late 20 something).

Illustration by Weronika Marianna

The Incredible Freedom of Not Trying to Look Good
by Ilana Masad (from The Atlantic)

I’ve sat down with the idea of beauty for some time now, but have only gestated on it even more lately. I’ve had the same qualms of, "what is this all for?" somehow even ending up with the sentiment of accepting that maybe I’m just not well or in a good enough place to be in a relationship or even be around people for now. That somehow I’ve accepted what the writer mentioned about accepting "ugliness," even if it’s not linear or even about the physicality of it, that sometimes ugly can also refer to the mentality. And I think ever since then, it became or have also grew on me into untangling why we like the things we like, and why we do the things we do. I think it goes beyond vainness in choosing to be ‘ugly’ and more about showing up unfiltered and just your raw self in a world that expects so much from you.

Renate Reinsve, almost a carpenter

I wanted to include her just because I think hearing about her journey might resonate to what many people go through as they age or reach their 30s. Before landing the titular role in Worst Person in the World (also, very in theme), it feels encouraging to hear that she was on the brink of quitting acting after facing so many rejections and was close to becoming a carpenter as a backup plan instead. Something you probably wouldn't expect, but I somehow totally get and relate to deep down. Also, knowing she landed her breakout role at 34 makes me look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel as I exit my late twenties too.

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Field notes from a personal garden ꕤ
Email , IG , Channel

Outer Office © 2026
zoesabandal.com