It’s strange how life works. When you’re a child, you dream about growing up; but once you reach adulthood, you wish you were a kid again.
When we were younger, my friends and I were asked the same old question over and over again: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” A variety of answers immediately came to mind. Some of us wanted to be nurses, police officers, veterinarians (I was in this category), race car drivers, and filmmakers; others wanted to be rock stars, vampire hunters, ghost hunters, and professional skateboarders. We had a million ideas but nothing solid.
At the same time we fantasized about freedom. We convinced ourselves that once we were all grown up, we would do things our way. No longer would we be forced by our parents to go to bed at nine o’clock! We would stay up until midnight to watch rated-R movies on cable TV! We shall eat raw chocolate chip cookie dough for breakfast, jump on our beds until the springs burst, and never brush our teeth! (It’s disgusting I know but you get the jest of what I’m getting at).
Fast forward ten years or so, and everything seems blurry. Ideas about who we are and what we wish to make of ourselves have changed. Adulthood, I realized, is more of a process than a quick transformation. It’s about getting accustomed to paying bills, making sure the apartment is in working order, and working your ass off every day.
Though at the same time, being an adult is about finding your freedom and establishing your independence. It’s going to be frustrating as hell sometimes, but that’s just how it is. We twenty-somethings probably have no idea about where our futures are heading. Although we wish we could travel back in time to experience the carefree spirit of childhood, we have to keep moving forward.
Cosmic Night Owl 