Without further context, turning 27 doesn’t seem significant. You’re not celebrating another decade of your life or the age you’re finally allowed to do something you couldn’t legally do before. It should be no different than turning 23 or 32.
But in terms of pop culture history, the age of 27 has become associated with what’s known as the 27 Club, referring to famous individuals who died when they were only 27 years old. Among these individuals include many legendary musicians, such as Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. Others who passed away at that age include neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and, most recently, movie actor Anton Yelchin.
There’s one thing many of these people have in common: drug additction. Both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin had either drugs or alcohol in their systems when they were found dead, while Brian Jones was found dead in a swimming pool after having drunk a mixture of alcohol and drugs. Jim Morrison’s death isn’t officially known, but many believe he’d been using drugs before being found dead in his bathtub.
One of the only individuals here who didn’t die directly because of drugs was Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide. However, he too was battling drug addiction in addition to depression. Another grunge artist who died one year before Cobain at that same age, Mia Zapata, was tragically raped and murdered-a crime which went unsolved until 2003- while Anton Yelchin died in a freak car accident.
I realize this is obviously a morbid thing to think about shortly after my 27th birthday last week. After all, I’m thankfully not addicted to any drugs; I haven’t even tried weed before. I’m also not a musician or anywhere close to being famous. Perhaps I could eventually get my big break with this newsletter if I can commit to writing interesting stuff regularly, but it has yet to happen.
However, I can’t say I’m completely happy with the path I’m on right now. I currently have a job that hasn’t been offering me a fair number of days and hours recently, I’m behind on several writing projects because of all the problems I was having with my laptop last summer, and I’m still not capable of living on my own. Because of my poor motor skills, things like cooking and cleaning don’t come easily to me, and driving would probably be difficult as well. Also, going through a global pandemic for almost two years hasn’t made things any easier.
Because of this, I feel as if I have yet to live the life I’ve always wanted. In fact, I barely feel like an adult at all sometimes. As a result, I ‘ve reached my 27th birthday with more caution than excitement. If I don’t try to change something about my life this year, I feel as if I’ll find myself trapped in the spot I’m currently in, where I can do some things on my own but with limited independence and resources. I may not be on the same self-destructive path as those artists whose lives ended so soon, but I’m on a hard path nonetheless.
But of course, this isn’t to say that everything about my life is bad either.
For instance, I spent more time with friends now as an adult than I ever did when I was a kid. There’s one friend whom my sister and I have been close with for three years now. We’ve spent many holidays together at her place since 2018, and we often do things like go to the mall or the movies with her. Unfortunately, she faces similar hardships as we do, since she also has a disability which prevents her from being fully independent. Also, her father passed away on New Year’s Day this year, just as we were celebrating the start of another year together. This has had a strong impact on her, and I’m sure she often asks herself the same questions as I do about whether her life will ever change in any way. I have several other friends whom I see sometimes, but it’s my friendship with this young woman that’s remained the strongest.
I also did one thing this year that I hadn’t done in years: travel with my family. In May, I went to Hawaii for the first time. It was not a long trip, but I managed to do several great things while I was there, including visiting Pearl Harbor, swimming in the Pacific Ocean at Waikiki Beach, hiking through Diamond Head, going on a boat ride, and seeing several parts of Oahu through bus rides. I’ve wanted to go to Hawaii for a long time, having missed out on my parent’s trip there in 2012 because it had been won through a casino raffle and only two people could go for free, so this was obviously a major highlight of the year for me.
We went on two other trips this year, including to Miami in late July. I admit I enjoyed this trip less than our trip to Hawaii for several reasons, which all began when we had to wait for hours outside under hot and humid temperatures to be admitted into our hotel room, followed by a rather unpleasant trip to Key West, where the boat ride we went to was meant for snorkeling (which we’d never done before) and I was just feeling weak throughout. There were still things I liked doing, like visiting Little Havana, seeing celebrity mansions through a boat tour in Miami, and once again, going swimming, but overall, it was average at best.
We then went to Puerto Rico in September, where the highlights of our trip included seeing many amazing murals and historic sights in San Juan and going to El Yunque National Forest, which is the only rainforest in the United States. We also managed to get a pizza from Pizza Hut which tasted a lot better than most of the ones which are now sold at home. However, the problem here were the rough roads, which made our only time using a private car during our trips somewhat unpleasant. We also had to show a vaccine passport to enter a casino, something we’ve never had to do at home. For me, this trip was special for being the first time I’ve visited any part of Latin America since I was kid, when I went on several vacations to Guatemala, and going during Hispanic Heritage Month and San Juan’s 500th anniversary made it feel even more significant.
And then there’s my commitment to writing. I’ve now started blogging, something I showed slight interest in before but could never commit to doing because of my interest in writing novels. I’ve had a rough start because of the problems with my laptop, but now that they’ve been taken care of, I find it easier to commit to writing and updating more regularly. Since I can never commit to just one subject, I’ve managed to post both essays and book reviews here so far, and I plan to continue doing so next year. Yes, it may mean not having much time to read for fun and putting aside writing my novels at times, but since writing is something I’ve been hoping to do for a living at some point, I can happily take on these tasks, even if it means having to become more disciplined about my schedule.
Wouldn’t publishing the traditional way be better? Perhaps, but as other Substack writers would tell you, the traditional publishing and writing worlds aren’t really at their best point right now. You hear about everything from increased gatekeeping within writing communities, endless conflicts being faced by journalists in major news publications, and even book banning in some places, and pursuing writing the traditional way seems less attractive. I do plan to try finding a literary agent for my first novel once I’ve done more editing for it, but otherwise, expect most of my writing to be found on Substack for now.
Based on all this, I do think I have made several small but significant accomplishments recently. There’s still much I must improve on to be a more independent adult, but it would do no good to ignore what I have managed to achieve. No one can claim to be without nothing; we’ve all got at least one thing going for us.
With that said, do I believe there might be a reason why we’ve seen so many great stars pass away when they’re only 27? Perhaps there is. I admit a part of me might fear that Robert Johnson really did sell his soul to the devil, resulting in some weird curse causing so many talented artists to die at one particular age. However, the good news is I don’t always give in to my superstitious side when it comes to events like this, preferring to stick to more logical explanations, and here’s how I’ll attempt explaining this phenomenon:
There’s a lot of scientific research proving our brains are not fully developed until we’re 25 years old. We’re always developing and kicking certain habits. Some can result in us obtaining amazing talents, as I’m sure many of these artists did. However, others could lead us down dark paths, including various addictions. If we learn to overcome our bad habits, we increase our chances of leading better lives, and if we can do this before we reach the peak age of 25, the rest of our adult years could maintain some level of stability. Likewise, if we commit to our talents during this time, whether by studying in college or holding certain jobs, we’ll find ourselves achieving a lot as we get older.
However, if you push aside your talents or continue down bad paths throughout your early and mid- twenties, you probably won’t have it easy once you get past that peak age. And if your talents get better over time but you maintain self-destructive habits along the way, it won’t be any easier for you. In that case, you’re on the right track with your work, but because your physical/ mental health or your personal relationships are full of problems, you’re not really going down a good path. If your struggles are bad enough, you could pay the price for your mistakes early on.
That’s what I think happened with many of those individuals who died at the age of 27: despite their early fame and strong talents, their addiction struggles were so strong they ended up taking over once they made it past their peak age of development, unfortunately resulting in their early deaths.
This may not explain the deaths of all these individuals, especially in the cases of Mia Zapata and Anton Yelchin, but it still serves as a reminder of how the choices we make in our twenties are very important, and if we can’t commit to changing for the better early on, our bad choices could negatively impact us at some point. We must make sure we are well off in all areas of our lives, including physically, emotionally, socially, financially, and even spiritually, and that we learn to identify our strengths and weaknesses in these areas. If we’re capable of doing this, the rest of our adult lives, even if they are difficult sometimes, are more likely to obtain some level of stability.
I may not be at my best point right now, but I’m willing to examine my strengths and weaknesses so I can lead a better life in the future. I know I will still struggle, yet I’ll continue working towards those things I can change and making sure I develop better habits over time. That way, being 27 doesn’t have to be a time of hardship and tragedy, but one of growth and hope.
This was super interesting to read and I actually didn't know that they were all 27, only that they had died much too young. That is so crazy to think about. I'm 35, so 27 feels very young. I very much hope that this is a year of nice change for you and that you make progress on all of your goals. I don't think it's a good idea to consider yourself "behind" in writing -- I think it's important to remember that any and all progress is progress and even when you are not writing, stories can kind of simmer in your head -- it's a good time to work on plot points, character development, to think about the theme, etc. -- and all of the thinking is work as well. And I would also say that everyone needs a break now and then, it can be healthy. In our art class, we used to work on a piece for awhile and our professor would make us take a break, get out of the room, go outside, and then come back later with fresh eyes. :)
I also believe in the power of small goals -- something that you know you can do. Whenever you feel like you're ready to focus on writing your WIP, maybe set a goal of writing 200 words every day. Just something that you can do even on a busy day, and over time it adds up to quite a lot.
Okay, this is longer than I intended, lol -- anyway, happy belated birthday and have a nice day!! :)