While today is not a huge birthday for me, I think turning 22 warranted doing something a little special for myself, so I bought myself two gifts that were well within my budget—Oyin Handmade's Whipped Pudding and Janelle Monae's album The ArchAndroid. Both have been fantastic so far (I will review the Whipped Pudding on my hair later) but the Janelle Monae album is really rocking my world. I've been playing it (and talking about it!) back to back non-stop, much to the chagrin of anyone in my immediate vicinity.

Musically, I love Janelle Monae for her creativity and all around "outside-of-the-box-ness" sound. The ArchAndroid feels like you're listening to this spectacular movie epic, from start to finish. Literally, I think The ArchAndroid is the only album that makes me bust into random bouts of "jazz hands" while mouthing the lyrics with feigned intensity to no one in particular, all while sitting in my underwear on my computer. Even with all of that, that's not the main reason why Ms. Monae inspires me, particularly while contemplating the life ahead of me on my birthday.For me, 22 signifies a subtle but significant shift from simply being young to being young and purposeful. At this age, many people are graduating from college (well, maybe not. I think that whole "4 year" standard is becoming increasingly less common, but I digress...) with the expectation of moving onto the next stage of their lives. Whether that's getting their first full-time job or transitioning to grad school, all that fumbling around we did in high school and the 18-21 years are expected to have dissipated under the heat purposefulness—are you advancing towards what you say you want you to do in life? The key to being young and purposeful is advancement, not arrival. Yes, we are young and goals take years, sometimes decades to come to fruition; no one is expecting a 22 year to have "made it" at this stage in life. However, what I am expecting—at least for my 22 year old self—is to feel confident in the fact that I am marrying my growth with direction, that I am truly moving towards what I tell the world I want in life.All of this remind me a lot of physics. One of the first things you learn in physics is that speed and velocity are similar, but profound in their differences. Speed is simply the rate at which an object moves from one point in space to another. As twentysomethings, I think we have unfailing amounts of "speed" because our productivity and passion is at an all time high. Velocity, however, is the speed of an object in relation to it's direction—just where are you going? Janelle Monae fits into all of this because at 24, I think she has mastered the art of purposefulness. In many of her interviews and in her bio, Janelle talks of all the changes she made and risk she took to make sure that her actions and environment were in line with the things she wanted. For as long as she's been honing her craft, I think it's safe to say that she's only "arrived" recently, but she has ALWAYS been "on the way", and that's what so impressive to me. From abandoning studies in theater to pursue music, to leaving the mecca of New York City for Atlanta, this girl has had her eye on the prize for a long time, even if she was the only one who could see it. Almost every song on her album relays a message of this kind of intensity and self-empowerment, which is why it's resonating with me so hard on a day like today.You all know that I'll turn almost any day into a day worthy of proclaiming goals, but I think birthday's are especially great if looked at as a kind of New Year's Eve when it comes to making resolutions. I think for the 22 years I've existed, each one can be categorized by a theme. Last year was definitely the year of learning, humility, resilience, and growth (yes, in that order) and I want to make this year all about purposefulness. I know that I was created unique for a reason, and this year I want to spend my energy honing that uniqueness and crafting it into something that can empower others. That is my direction, that is my purpose, and that is what I am advancing to, thought I expect I will arrive sometime in the future. I looking forward to my 23rd crack at it.What about you?