I open my closet door. Inside lives a microcosm of a larger issue. Who do I want to be today? Hippie queen or sophisticate? Punk rocker or soccer mom? At 25 it’s especially hard to tell what one is supposed to wear—usually the options are to dress younger or older than your actual age. What does a 25-year-old look like these days? And more importantly, what are they supposed to be doing with their lives?

It is July 28, 2009. I could be a writer or a web developer. A career woman or a housewife. Gay or straight. Male or female. I am all of these things. I am none of these things. Right now I am in between jobs. I graduated a couple years back with a degree in Interactive Media Design and afterward worked as a web designer for a ecommerce company for 11 months. Now, like so many other Americans I am out of a job and am reassessing my options. But there are so many options, and none of them likely to pan out. I live in LA and everyone here wants a slice of the Hollywood pie. “Sell your script today!” “Looking for that Femme Fatale to add to our team!” “Take voice lessons to improve your chances on American Idol!” I scan the online ads and after awhile am hit with information anxiety. There’s too much to do, too much to be, and too much competition. It’s an insane, soul-sucking rat race that practically eliminates human connection. So what do we do? How do we get off the hamster wheel? I’m sure an ad somewhere on my computer screen has the answer.

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