I have waited for this day for as long as I can remember. Seeing my name in a national magazine, in a full-length article. When the June issue of Cosmopolitan came out, I ran out on my lunch break to the drug store to buy the magazine. There it was, on page 197, Chrissy Wilson. Only, I didn’t write the article.
I was recently messaged on Facebook by a friend of mine who is a freelance journalist. She told me she was writing an article about 20-somethings pushing off having kids until their 30s. She wanted my opinion on the subject. I sent her back a quick message about how I feel about it, my experience. I thought that would be it. What ensued was a month of facebook exchanges, email exchanges, fact checking with Cosmo editors. It was a lot of work…for me.
It’s fun to see my name and my quotes in a magazine article, but also a little disappointing. After all those messages and interviews, my piece came down to two paragraphs. I wasn’t surprised, though. The writer was trying to push me in a certain direction, and I could tell I wasn’t giving her the quotes she wanted. The questions leaned toward a desperation at having children, starting a family quickly which is completely the opposite of how I feel. Reading the article, the other 20-something she interviewed served up baby-making anxiety much more than myself, saying how she only goes to bars where she can meet potential husbands/fathers. I had no idea people my age even felt that way.
Either way it was a fun experience, and the June issue is on the stands for anybody who’s interested. One day I’ll be the byline. One day!
Chrissy's Blog 
I wouldn’t have given good quotes either; I’m not having kids unless I’m ready to give them the time and attention and care they need, and I’m still way too selfish with my time and energy to be that devoted!
It’s too bad they gave the article that slant. I personally feel like that sort of desperation is both a bad place to come from when it comes to wanting to bring new life into the world, and is also the common message forced on 20-somethings, regardless of if that’s how they might really feel or not when left to make their own decisions.
Okay, rant over! I believe in you, Chrissy — you are such a great writer that they’d be fools not to print your articles!
Just read an article published in 2010 that reminded me of this post:
http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/08/18/nyt-op-ed-what-is-it-about-20-somethings/
I can definitely put a check mark next to pretty much all of the 10 signs…
Haha, me too!