I've been employed for over a year now. I finished my 4 years of university in May last year & began work a few months later. I bought insurance. Started taking over bills. Began thinking about things like investments, housing, loans... basically the future. So officially, I've technically become an "adult". Doing "adult" things. Being of an "adult" age.
When you were a kid all these terms (bills, work, insurance) were like... WOAH. You're all big & grown up! You've made it! You've finished being a child, being a preteen, being a teenager... Turning 21... was still meh. You JUST hit the "official" legal "adult" age. 22... ok you're a year wiser than before. No big deal. 24... oh shit, you can no longer consider yourself on the edge of adulthood. You're now closer to being in the mid-twenties than you are to that long-awaited big 21.
And so it hits you. You're now that freaking ADULT kids like you used to imagine the lives of. From being a kid yourself, you're now at the age where you can be trusted to look after other kids. As a kid you'd see the responsibilities & expectations of an adult & suddenly... you're that adult.
But somehow... I don't feel a day older than I did last year. Or the year before. Or the year before before. The digits of my age increase, but I feel the same. I feel like I'm in exactly the same spot. Nothing's really changed. I sit around & wait for that "adult-ness" to happen to me. But what defines it really? Is it finishing school? Is it starting work? Is it getting married? Is it having children?
People around me have done a variety of those things at varying ages. Are they more/less "adult" than me? What makes an adult? Is it just the number? Is it the things we do, or the way we think? Other than my age, what am I?
Maybe adulthood is just an illusion. It's the trap society made to make us do things they wanted us to do. Or something.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait it's too early for me to think such deep thoughts :p
Life With Antlers // A Personal Blog
exactly same thoughts that have been running through my head these days.
ReplyDeletetotally feel you. tick tock to the big 3-0.
ReplyDeleteI think being an adult is mainly just about you having to take care of your own things like bills and work. It's just that some people assume that in order to perform "adult" tasks like working, people must have "adult" mindsets like acting all serious but to me, that's just complete bullshit. I think as kids, we just envied the amount of freedom adults have but once we reach that stage it's like nothing. I don't know ahhahah I might be making no sense at all.
ReplyDeletexx
lostinblackhaze.blogspot.com
Totally understand how you feel. I'm looking for my first job now, don't know what I want to do. I always think that people around me know exactly what they want in life. Should I just get a job and work through it? Decision, Decision, Decision.
ReplyDeleteI think the changes come so slowly you don't even notice! -Hanna Lei
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! Jus graduated and I find myself confused as to what should I do from now. It's like having a near mid life crisis...:'(
ReplyDeleteLOLOL, pls lor, we are all forced into adulthood, who wanna pay bills, take up responsibilities or work for a living, not me.
ReplyDeletewhy u update blog no tweet or ig about it one!
Aah I get you. I'm finishing uni in June 2015! :( I wanna be a student forever.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having an existential crisis
ReplyDeleteI think being an adult means being more independent and in charge of one's life. Everything is more or less up to you now. It's harder to get away with an "oh but I'm still young" excuse. Certainly getting more in touch with the world and hence more cynical of loftier ambitions of the past (for me at least lol). I don't think there is a distinct definition per se but getting a job, taking charge of your finances is a sign that you've matured into adulthood which is a lifelong process. Baby steps, but you look like you're in good shape anyway :)
ReplyDeleteThis really strikes a chord with me, because I often feel like this. Most 20-somethings do, I suppose. Maybe everyone does.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone ever really "figures it out". If you look at your life and compare it to 5, 10 years ago, there are definitely big changes, and you are definitely wiser, more capable, more independent (unless you've developed a debilitating drug problem during that time. But then I guess you would know how to be a functioning drug addict, or be able to find money to obtain drugs, so I guess you also get more capable. Anyway.) I graduated this year, too, but dived right back into grad school. Being a university student really straddles the edge between independence and immaturity... you are a functioning adult with responsibilities, but at the same time, being in the cocoon of student life shields you from adult life... yeah, I wish I could be a student forever and live like this forever. I'm not sure anyone ever feels like they have it all figured out. You just become capable of taking care of yourself, and then maybe capable of taking care of others, and once in a while, you will break the fog of cluelessness, look around, and realize, "Hey, I actually do have my shit together." Don't panic. Just enjoy it.