Girl Talk: Reflections on turning 30 (and why I'm no Kate Moss)

Girl Talk: Reflections on turning 30 (and why I'm no Kate Moss)

When Kate Moss turned 30 in 2004, she ushered in the new decade with a lavish party based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned, a decadent tale set in the 1920s full of sex, drugs and orgies. Her party guests – including Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Taylor-Wood and Stella McCartney – brought along bags bearing the names Tiffany, Cartier, De Beers, Bulgari, Agent Provocateur and D&G, and the birthday girl wore a sequinned dress, her hair in tight curls and her signature smokey eye.

My 30th birthday was a little different. 

The party was dinner at my favourite Malaysian restaurant at Burleigh Beach, I wore Country Road and Zara and my hair in a ponytail, the gift bags were labelled Pandora, Myer, Typo and Prouds, and the guests included my adorable nieces and nephew, two BFFs and husband's family. There was dancing – in the car, before Husband pulled out his bung knee – but no drugs or orgies.

It was short, understated and sweet.

There was a small part of me – the spoilt brat who rears her ugly head when my mind ventures to compare my current status with that of the girl I left behind when I moved away from Sydney (and those celebrities and stylish superwomen we read about in the glossy magazines) – who was disgruntled that a bigger fuss was not made of the occasion, and dismayed at my own lameness at not having planned an amazing do (are those violins playing?).

But my self-indulgent inner princess was tempered and humbled as I took stock of my blessings and gave myself a mental slap across the face. Because when the party's over, I have a home, a gorgeous husband, a faith in God, a loving family, work I enjoy and more lovely things than most. 

Reading about how Michelle Williams celebrated her 30th in madison – a day with Matilda – was another reminder that there's no prescription for marking the transition into your third (fourth?) decade. It really just has to be true to whoever you are and where you're at in life.

The night Husband and I got engaged, we returned home to pack avocados in a shed with his parents. That singular event was a glimpse of what was to come in my life. When we returned home the day after my 30th, which happened also to be my father-in-laws' 60th birthday, Husband and I cleaned the house (my in-laws, bless 'em, chipped in) and then settled in for an afternoon nap before watching A Christmas Carol.

My ghost of Christmas past – that Sydney party girl who cared more for clothes, her figure and her work than the simple pleasures of family and cuddles on the couch – is not commensurate with the girl I am now, just as much as the girl I am now still has a lot of work to do before she can confidently say she's no longer selfish, or self-conscious, nor experiencing silly pangs for a glossy fantasy life that wouldn't satisfy her anyway. 

In the words of Madonna, "When you're trying hard to be your best, could you be a little less? Do you know what it feels like for a girl... in this world?". There's only room for one Kate Moss in the world. So, now, a little older and wiser, it's on with the Girl With a Satchel show... 

Girl With a Satchel's Core Values

GWAS is not perfect, often giving into material temptations (oh, the pretty things) and partaking in the superficial pursuits espoused by the glossies (counting calories, celebrity gossip, coveting Chloé shoes...), but she's confident that a life lived by glossy standards alone is a miserable one.

To that end, GWAS chooses to live by faith and God's grace, seeking His approval and embracing the teachings of Jesus Christ, who valued peace, joy, humility, gentleness, sacrifice, kindness, submission, honesty and self control. It's not easy being green, as Kermie would concede, but a girl (with a satchel) has gotta believe in something. 

And for those who find themselves single and 30 (which, believe me, some days I wish I were!) a post of encouraging words c/o Joy Argow... not that coupledom or marriage need be the end goal, of course (Paul recommends perpetual singlehood, and devotion to God, in the Bible!).

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel