Well... since I just got wisdom teeth pulled and can't talk... I figured I'd post something that I've been thinking about lately.
What does it take to make an adult??
I'm at that funny little stage in my life where I'm still clinging onto childhood and all of its magic, yet circumstances and life in general are pulling me to become an adult... Rather scary... I don't deal well with change, and I certainly don't deal well with heading off into dark enigmas... *shudder* Not nice thoes enigma things...
Now, I've come to realize that it's not a sudden change... When you're in that pesky imbetween stage you have periods of childhood, and periods of adulthood. Never got that concept when I was younger... Just saw adults as these big powerful people who could do anything and knew just about anything.
Although maybe that's part of my problem?... I still kinda see adults as these amazing people, and I see little me who just barely learned to tie her shoes by herself and go "I'll never be there!! You can't make me!!! O.o" (well... ok, I learned to tie my shoes a month ago, but you get the idea. ^.~)
But even so, I'm not even sure what an adult is?... I mean, Ok, my parents... your parents... But when did they become adults??? I want a concreete timeframe dag-nabbit! >.< ... Like I said, I don't do well with enigmas... And adulthood is kinda a big one...
I don't think age has a very big part of it. A part yes, but not a terribly huge one. I know people who are 18 and 19, and going "OK! I'm an adult now! So you can't tell me what to do!!"
...
So I refuse to believe that age has that big of a part in it.
I do think it's the experiences that come with the age though... But again, which experiences... *sigh*
So yeah... those be my thoughts. ^.^; Comments?? Anyone??? Please????
10 comments:
I have to say the inbetween stages are the worst, you don't quite fit into any area 'cuz you're clingging to certain aspects but have gained charateristics that take you out of that area.
Adualthood is more then the age. It's macherity (hopefully not spelling :D), expirence, and a time in your life. I find myself wanting to go back to childhood and even adolesence because life was a lot simpler. As we grow up up things get more complicated unfortunatly. It makes me wonder how my parents have overcome everything they have. But it has its benefits :D
Yeah... inbetween stages are the worst. >.< Yucky poo! Hm... Yeah, I think I am. Clinging to somethings in both areas. Yeay for fence sitting!
Hm... Yeah, maturity (Yeah, I had to look it up...) is a BIG part of it. So maturity, experience, timeing... I like that definition.
Yeah, life definately gets more complicated. >.O That's one of the things I'm not liking... More to deal with >.<
Yeah, I've wondered that too. How in the world did your-I mean my parents live through and become the people they are? I mean... they raised me! ME!! ... That can't have been easy.
Thanks for the thoughts! *hugs*
Conversations like this always end up making me feel extremely out of place. I can't really remember a time when I didn't want to grow up and become an adult. Sure, childhood was fun and all, but nothing I ever did really mattered; I'd get a few "Oh, he's so cute" sorts of praises or a pat on the head, but I didn't feel like I had any control over my life or where I was going. Now I do. Granted, adulthood is kind of a tough break sometimes, but I just don't see how it isn't worth it. One of my mission companions once asked me, "Don't you sometimes wish you could be a kid again?" and my honest reply was, "Actually, that's one of my worst nightmares." It isn't that I had an unhappy childhood; it's just that I've moved on, and the idea of going backwards is so counterintuitive to me that I can't even think about it without getting a little tense. To be a kid again? Awful! I worked hard to get where I am; I don't want to have to do it all over again!
I dunno. Maybe I'm just unromantic; it's a distinct possibility, actually. But I just see absolutely no appeal in going back, and frankly I'm glad it's impossible to do so. Lots of people think of childhood as a time of freedom, but I just have to wonder--freedom to do what? Whether to play with Legos or GI Joes? What difference does THAT make? Now I make decisions like what classes I take, what I'm going to get a degree in, what I'm going to do for a living, and ultimately how I'm going to change this dreary old world. Not that I intend to shake Earth's very foundation, but everybody makes some kind of impact during their lifetime, and my capacity to make things happen is much greater now that I'm an adult.
Why on earth would anyone want to avoid growing up? It just doesn't make sense to me....
Why would anyone want to avoid growing up? I think a lot of people want to avoid the responsibility inherent in becoming an adult. People prefer to revert to their childhoods because things were easy, uncomplicated, and done for them.
Yet I think there are certain aspects of childhood we are never meant to lose. Yes, we are meant to grow up and adopt responsibilities and attend to our commitments and--possibly--change the world.
But many adults I can think of who were true movers and shakers of their time managed to maintain the wonderment of their childhood, and that was a large part of what made them great. "Adulthood" as defined by the world usually doesn't involve feeding our curiosity and staring at our world in constant amazement whenever we discover something new or beautiful.
And I think that's a pity. After all, we're admonished to be like children for a reason.
Hm... So I think the vibe I'm getting from all this is that it depends on how you define an adult as whether you want to be one. Kinda obvious, I realize but hey.
In my head I see an adult as this... Oh, this suit and tie, cubicle, boring person who's forgotton how to have fun. I WAY don't want that... I'm a puppy, I need my play.
If I'm understanding your right Schmetter, you see an adult as someone who has control. Someone who has the power to change things.
So then I can see our difference in oppinion there. As for me, it's not that I don't want to change things. Feeling power is nice. But... If I can have fun and I'm not really making a difference or changeing the world at all, I'm ok with that.
I am getting to the stage where I need to be getting stuff done to be happy, but play is still a high priority on my list.
Confuzzled: Yeah! I want to maintain the wonderment of my childhood! I like how you say that. Wonderment... ^.^ And yeah, I wanna keep my sence of wonderment, curiousity and amazement as I look at the world. I would be really sad if I ever lost that... And in my head that's part of being an adult and it scares me... So thanks Confuzzled. ^.^
Hm... As far as wanting to stay a child because things are done for me?... Um... Wow... Isn't this lovely weather we're having? ^.^;
Well... Ok, I should probably clarrify... I do like being able to do things for myself, but I'm scared when I start to do something for myself. The way I'm wired, I'm always scared to do something wrong. If someone does it for me, I can't possibly do it wrong. ^.^; But when I start to do something for the first time I'm always second guessing myself. Never a fun experience...
Once I get going, I'm fine. It's just that first push...
Thanks all for your imput!
It's always cool to see how other people think. I've always enjoyed that.
Oh, and one little random tidbit ('cause I haven't written enough. ;P). Schmetter, you said you've always wanted to be an adult. I never did. Even in grade school and other girls said, "Hey! Let's play house!" I never wanted to. I saw my mom cleaning the house, washing dishes, dusting, etc... Why in the world would I want to play at that??
So yeah... woof. Just thought that was interesting.
Hm... (one of these days I'll stop talking about this... Feel free to ignore me, but I gotta hope this is interesting to someone out in the cosmos) Another random thought.
While I never wanted to play house, I did always wonder when older people would see me as an equal. When they would talk to me like I could understand what they were talking about. I would see people who I termed adults talking to eachother, and how it differed from how they'd talk to someone younger then themselves. I always wondered when I'd move from the second catagory to the first. I've never wanted the extra responsibilities, but I have wanted to not be talked down to. Like you said Schmetter, not the whole "Oh, he/she's so cute!" thing... That gets old real quick... I like feeling capable. That's always nice. It's just scary to loose my saftey net.
Gee, look what I found lurking on other people's blogs. Long time no chat! (Here's a hint, in high school I would've been saying "Meow" to your "Woof." Got any guesses?)
To me, adulthood was always about inevitability. I almost always preferred talking to adults more than my peers and felt horribly constrained and bored by most childish activities. There were days I couldn't wait to "grow up."
Being an adult doesn't mean you can't play though. It just means you have to figure out a way to pay your rent (or mortgage, or car payment, or student loans) before you can devote as much time for it. I find that reading a good book on my lunch breaks keeps me sane during long shifts.
-Neko-chan
LIGHTWING!!! *pounces* Yes, yes, much too long...
T_T But I wanna play first dag-nabbit! ... *sigh* Yeah, you're probably right...
Yeah, there are definately times that I've wanted to talk to adults rather than people around my age... Espeically when said people were only talking about the cutest boy or something... Guys are nice, don't get me wrong, but they are not the center of my universe.
But... the whole change thing... The change of going from kid-thing to adult-thing... >.O No likey change... icky-poo!
Been thinking more about it, and it seems to me I'm more scared about the title of 'Adult' than anything... Responsibility some, loosing the safety net... yeah, definately... The unknown has always scared me.
So yeah... I think it's the title and the unknown-ness (don't know if that's a word, but...) of growing up... *sigh* Although knowing what scares me has always helped...
Thanks ya'll! ^.^ *hugs all around*
(and not that I'm stopping this topic, I just don't forsee any new posts... Could happen... dunno.)
Post a Comment