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Today is my 25^th birthday.

Between you and me, I am not happy about this at all. In spite of my “age is just a number” stance, the quarter of a century milestone is not one that I welcome with open arms.

For a start, I cannot relate to my peers. Life has been interesting, definitely, and I have learnt a lot, yes. However, circumstances have kept me from keeping up with the usual pace and social norms. The people that I went to school with seem to be working every available hour and having babies, moving in with partners and saving up for something important. Meanwhile, I live like a teenager. I am awake all night and asleep all morning, pyjamas are my staple wardrobe and I eat dinner at midnight - sometimes straight out of the pan. It is time to make some changes.

Last week I watched a film (Beautiful Kate, I recommend it), in which I heard the line “youth is beauty and beauty is youth”. This caught my attention, what with the impending milestone. Up until recently, for reasons that I will talk about another time, I have not had the opportunity to truly enjoy being young. But is my youth over today? According to results of a survey last year, the average Briton thinks that youth ends at 35, in which case, I am good for another ten years – hooray.

On Saturday I was given a particularly clichéd palm reading by a self-proclaimed-world-renowned clairvoyant over at the Orsett Show. The usual ground was covered: “you are destined to travel to foreign shores”, “do not look for love, love will find you”… but then she looked me right in the eye and said “life will get better but you must not be lazy”. Of course, this struck a chord and I certainly did not need to pay £20 to hear it. Ah, just when she was getting somewhere, she proceeded to tell me of my past life as a witch who cast love spells…

So, I need to make a birthday resolution, lest I reach 30, still pottering about at home in my pyjamas and wondering what on earth I’ve been doing for the past five years. Yes, my resolution shall be to stop procrastinating.

These photographs are inspired by The Kumari Devi of Nepal, also known as The Living Goddess. I thought it appropriate, what with all this talk of youth.

The Kumari are believed to be the incarnation of Taleju, a deity specific to Nepal. A pre-pubescent girl from the Shakya community is selected based on a list of criteria - 32 attributes of perfection. She must have an appropriate horoscope and be able to remain fearless throughout a series of frightening rituals. Once the true goddess has been elected, she lives her life in a temple and her feet must not touch the ground outside. Her life becomes a series of rituals and blessings until the day that she starts menstruating – she then reverts back to her common status and is expected to seamlessly return to ordinary life. Many of the girls struggle to adapt. Other reasons for the Kumari to lose their goddess status include loss of teeth and serious illness. For more information, see this video: Kumari.

For the record, I have 0/32 of the attributes.

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