Getting on a plane alone for the first time is a quiet graduation. You won’t get a certificate, but you’ll know.

Some growing up happens with no ceremony attached to it. Handling the gate, the bag, the delay and the stranger in the next seat is a set of small competences, and once you have them you cannot go back to not having them. Nobody notices from outside. You notice, which is the part that counts, and it changes what you believe you can handle next.

Collect a couple more of those on purpose this year. A trip you plan yourself, an appointment you book and attend alone. Keep a short list, because you will forget how much you added.