Drew Barrymore is a new contributor for Us Weekly. Below, the actress, talk show host and businesswoman tackles life, love and being your own best friend:
You know how sometimes you just feel ready? Like, deep in your bones, something shifts, and you realize — you’re stepping into a whole new season of life, and it actually feels right? That’s me. Right now. Fifty years old. And I have to say … I think I love it here.
Now, listen: If you had told me in my 20s, or even my 30s, that I would be so wildly happy just being in my own company, I would have laughed. Because I was always chasing something: love, adventure, the next exciting thing. I wanted to fill my life with people and movement and big feelings. And don’t get me wrong — I still love a grand adventure. I will never not be incredibly passionate about road trips and overpacking snacks and singing along to music with the windows down. But somewhere along the way, I realized the company I was forever going to keep … was my own.
I think, for me, the real shift came when I stopped looking at being alone as a waiting room. Like, I wasn’t alone because I was between relationships or because I hadn’t figured something out yet. I was alone because I genuinely enjoyed it. I was choosing it. I didn’t need to fill every moment with noise. And when I tell you that was the most freeing realization of my life? Oh. My. Gosh.
I started doing things for me in a way I never had before. I took myself out on little solo dates. I cooked for myself like I was hosting some fabulous dinner party — candles, music, the whole thing. I made my home exactly how I wanted it. I embraced the fact that I love a night in my pajamas, watching reruns of The Golden Girls, instead of being out at some fancy event. And what’s funny is, the more I embraced me, the more I felt like the truest version of myself.
Drew Barrymore Is Finally Happy at 50: ‘Didn’t Know I Would Ever Get Here’
Now, I have to say, 50 is a really interesting age. Because it’s this beautiful blend of confidence, wisdom and still feeling like a total goofball who doesn’t have it all figured out (and maybe never will — and that’s OK!).
I feel settled in a way I never did before, but I also feel excited. I’m not winding down — I’m winding up. I still want to dream big. I still want to throw myself into love and work and creativity. I still want to do ridiculous things like go to bed at 9 p.m. and wake up at 5 a.m. just to drink my morning iced tea in peace. I want all of it.
And I think the biggest thing I’ve learned? You are the longest relationship you’ll ever have. So, if you don’t take care of yourself, if you don’t cherish yourself, then what are we even doing here? I want to be my own best friend. I want to be the person I can rely on, laugh with and celebrate with. And if love, in any form, comes along and adds to that? Beautiful. But I refuse to believe that life starts or stops because of anyone else.
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So here I am. Fifty. Feeling really good about it. And if you’re in the middle of your own shift — whether it’s at 30, 40, 60 — I just want to say: You’re allowed to love yourself right now. Not when you get that job. Not when you lose the weight. Not when you fall in love. Right now. You are already enough.
And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what’s next.
