With everything that has been going on in the world and in my life I have decided it would be an awesome time to slow down and get back to my basics: photography and writing. It appears that everyone in my life and in the world are constantly moving, and moving on with life. Constantly changing, although I have started to think that I am falling behind. That I am just not quite keeping up. I am getting older and my life is changing and I am trying to embrace it and enjoy it, although I question if I am really growing older, or growing up. What does that entail? Cause I am not so sure. If I sit back and watch (which I do enjoy doing), I notice that my boyfriend has been growing up recently and has become a ‘grown up’; I’ve watched my baby cousin grow from a newborn to a 1 year old and my mother go from a married women to divorced. But I am still confused and unsure about if I understand the concept of growing up. Is it just constant changes as the years age us or are we looking for some trait or age that determines it?
Well you see when I met my beautiful boyfriend he wasn’t so beautiful. To me he honestly looked homeless due to his homeless aspects that included but were not limited to, his unshaven face (which was a mess), his black old beanie over unwashed and uncut hair, the reflective sunnies (which he wore inside), stretchers in his ears (yeah two in one ear…. Strange) and he had clothes on that appeared to as if they had not been washed in days. Although past all of the external attraction (due to the lacking of any qualities I find hot), I for some bizarre unknown reason still felt a sense of attraction and intrigue toward him. Well when I found out more about him I was to discover that he was jobless, lived with his parents (still acceptable at 20) and was in an IT course at TAFE. That was the boy I started dating, the one who made me fall in love with him, now it is as if I have watched him grow up. He went through a heart wrenching and gruelling process of trying to find A JOB! Which has been an impossible task, but he finally got one. He has a job and it’s as if he is on his feet again, he feels better about himself and worth more to himself. With these new fundamental aspects, which usually define a person as an adult (a job, house to stay in and a stable relationship), it’s like he is well into the process of being what we define as a ‘grown up’. But all this seems like to me is him going through a bunch of changes, his personality or skills haven’t changed, he hasn’t gained what seems the magic trait and he was classified an adult before this so it’s not his age. So what are we deeming to be growing up?
Well I have a little cousin and she’s the cutest little thing ever! Well to me anyway. She used to be a newborn baby who couldn’t lift her own head and now she’s becoming a little person. A few months ago she turned 1, learnt all the skills required throughout her life such as talking, sharing, communicating and crawling, which has now progressed to walking. She’s doing really well, so clever in my eyes. She’s come such a long way from a year ago when I got to meet her, she’s grown so much in height, her hair is longer, face is changing and with her age changing it’s allowing her to gain a personality in which she uses to play with me, tell me what she wants to do and who she wants to cuddle. She is going through massive changes too; she’s also classified as ‘growing up’. Although this is all very dramatic to watch in such a short amount of time, they are all changes. That’s all they are: changes. And these are deemed as the process of growing up and are expected as the ‘norm’ and what is required! What can one do to achieve this ‘grown up’ status? The changes little ones go through are the process of them becoming adults, is this the same for being a ‘grown up’ is it the changes that deem that or our ability to handle situations?
My mummy is a lady getting on in her years and is what young children would classify as being a grown up. She has my brother and me, has been married for 25 years, been in the same job for as long as I have been alive and lives in her own house with her own rules. Although recently she, too has been going through many changes like the rest of us. My dad walked out on her on their 25th wedding anniversary and broke my mum. But I think it has been a good thing because she is much happier now and does all the things in life that she enjoys doing, rather than hating everything and being grumpy like she was when ‘he’ was around. My parents officially got divorced this year and it has been a massive change in her life and has taught her many things. She, like the rest of us, is constantly learning things about herself and the things life has to offer. But what I don’t understand is that children see her as a ‘grown up’ which to young minds is deemed as someone being over the age of 18, has children and lives away from their parents. But I am beginning to think that she is no more ‘grown up’ than me. Yes, she has more life experience and years behind her, although she like the rest of us is still going through changes, still learning new things that alter her life. So in turn, does that mean she too is still ‘growing up’?
When I think about it, I’ve just graduated high school, turned 18 and started paying immense amounts of bills. In the Government’s eyes I, too am a ‘grown up’. But I feel the same way that I did 2, 3 years ago, I don’t feel like the ‘grown up’ everyone claims for me to be. I am just living my current life the best way that I know how. I have many lessons left to learn in my life, many experiences left to have but for some reason it seems like I am supposed to be in the end stage of my life, as a “grown up”. I believe that the definition of growing up is that you’ve finished all your learning stages, you’ve reached the age of adulthood and you’ve gone through all the changes possible in life. The thing is I am an adult and I accept that, that’s deemed by my age. But there is no way in hell that I am a ‘grown up’, I am still just a girl who’s learning and living due to those lessons. Any one of my friends would agree with that statement, I could assure that. In the sense of that definition we cannot be deemed ‘grown ups’ until we die. Then there are no more lessons to be learnt, there are no more changes to be had and life cannot continue to present us new challenges to face. So in that case we become adults at the age deemed, but we can never become a grown up until the day we die.
To all interested Wednesday Australia will be my blog day (if I can keep this up :P)
titsay
andulkaphoto
annaxmalina
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
janainaart
izzy806
