On the internet, I admit I'm a bit of a rodent sniffing mindlessly for wisdom. I didn't realize how deep-seated this habit was until I wrote this post. As a child I sought out young adult novels about navigating middle and high school. Soon I was browsing College Confidential, wistful for university life. I crawled forums and blogs and wikiHow for both failure and success stories, regrets people had about early adulthood, and pitfalls to avoid. Sure, I was desperate to speedrun adolescence and get the heck out of Hollywood, Maryland, but I've long since fled to the opposite coast and by golly I can't stop sniffing.
I don't consume content so much as forage for it, poking my nose into every corner I find. When I whiff the slightest crumb of advice, I snatch it into my hoard. I can't imagine I'm yearning for anything in particular when I scroll through BookTube or r/girlsgonewired. I suspect I'm too unwilling to make the mistakes that other people have.
Despite my best efforts, not all my mistakes were the first of their kind in human history. On the other hand, some mistakes never came to be, thanks to my metaphorical rodent tendencies ðŸ¤
Which brings us to today. I'm sifting through my hoard of assorted advice and spotlighting the most memorable pieces, deemed so because they either came in clutch or caused terrible, terrible things. May these learnings serve as a rodent to your Pixar animated chef.