I first heard the term “Jesus Year” from actress Yvonne Orji as she was sending greetings to ‘Insecure’ co-star, Issa Rae on her 33rd birthday. In her Instagram post, she wrote, “#WelcometoYourJesusYear.”
Source: Yvonne Orji Instagram
While there is no concrete definition of the term, it can be summarized as a year of incredible change where one feels like they have been reborn. Named for Jesus Christ, who in his final year of life at 33, was "arrested and crucified in Jerusalem after starting a spiritual, political and intellectual revolution," the 33rd year of life is a time where many have made transformative changes in their lives (Todd, 2012).
A less profound definition from the Vancouver Sun states, “The ‘Jesus Year’ is now also becoming the age in which young people – not necessarily only Christians, but everyone in this multicultural society – decide it’s time to get serious about life, time to accomplish something” (Todd, 2012).
I think that that Vancouver Sun definition is more in line with my own experience. In my 33rd year, I felt like I was at a point in my life where I needed to be more rooted. For the last eleven years, I have moved more times than I care to count. Every rental reminded me that I was not stable and that I was paying off someone else’s dream. And with more and more pets arriving in our lives, the constant fear of being put out of a home for having too many pets was too much to carry. So, in 2017, we bought a house.
In the last five years in Atlanta, I have not made any permanent friends. I do not have any hobbies. I don’t have favorite places that are not associated with my pets. I have made no connections to the city that I have resided for half a decade. I have merely been existing in a place that I thought was temporary.
Now, with a plot of land with our names on it, we are finally home.
The verdict is still out on whether buying a home was the best decision of our lives, but for me, this purchase symbolized a new era that was emerging. Love it or hate it, I now own a part of Atlanta. I am invested in making my happiness here. It is now time that I stop treating this city like a layover that will not end.
Tomorrow, when I wake up, I will be another year older. While it does not have an epic name like “Jesus Year,” I know that this is going to be an incredible new chapter for me. I have a renewed purpose to find the joy in the place where I am at now (mentally and physically), to find my tribe in this city, and to really feel like I am home.
So to my 33rd year, I raise my glass and say, “Cheers!”
Reference:
Todd, D. 2012. The 'Jesus Year:' Its time has come. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from http://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/the-jesus-year-its-time-has-come
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