Grown-upism: The Disease in which Young People Start Acting like Legitimate Adults

 

 

I knew this moment would come, but I feared it. I resisted it with every fiber of my glittery being. I stalled; I fought; I decorated my living room with a fuzz art poster of a purple and pink unicorn. But no matter how hard I tried, it still happened. I’m growing up. I’m becoming more “adult” and I don’t know what to think about this.

 

The realization came with the fact that I can’t see The Rocket Summer perform tonight because I have class. There was no question about whether I would go; my commitment was to Business Law, not Bryce Avery. The last time I couldn’t see TRS due to a conflict of schedule (SLJ’s conflict, not my own), I threw a minor tantrum (rather unbecoming of a 20-year-old college student). And today, even as I try to feel disappointed about it, I’m not… It’s not for any lack of love for Bryce; just this morning I popped in “Calendar Days” to accompany me on my 30-minute trek to work. It’s just that it’s the way life is, and, well, I’m okay with it

 

 

I imagine this is what it means to be a grown-up, accepting that there are simply things that can’t be done and not feeling all that upset about it. The only thing I feel kind of disappointed in is that grown-upism is taking hold of me. I find myself feeling a little more like a legitimate adult every day. And what really bothers me is that I’m starting to be okay with it. Maybe it’s time to pull out the blue tutu, ninja paint, rubber ducky tie, and pink feather boa…

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The Toy Story Anomaly

Toy Story kicks butt. It’s not up for argument or discussion. It proves something that every child knows- toys live and have emotions and love the children who love them. Genius. So the other morning my roommate Stephanie and I decided to borrow it from our school’s library. No dice. We try the public library and it had 4 holds on it. We went onto the school’s interlibrary system and found only 1 available copy at a school… about 41 miles away (which we requested for free delivery to our library, which is why the interlibrary system is still better than Netflix).

It being out at the public library I can understand, but from all the universities? Were all these future college graduates doing theses on the harmful effects of Disney on the delicate minds of children? Perhaps. Were they trying to hold onto the nostalgia of their childhood? Maybe. But I think the real reason is that people never stop being children. We just suppress it as it becomes less socially acceptable. College students are in the purgatory of life, that strange middle ground where they prepare for the “real world” while still depending on their parents and playing with their friends (the games change, the concept doesn’t). Being caught in the in-between forces us to live these double lives, where we go to work or internships or nursing clinicals or student teaching, but come home and play monopoly or watch Disney movies and call our parents to tell them about our day. Living as both adults and children and trying to find the proper balance.

I think we should try to hold onto our childhood for as long as possible (hopefully indefinitely). Not to say we should be immature or not take responsibility seriously, but children can imagine a world where a playground is a tropical rainforest and toys can come to life and literally anything can happen.

Maybe I’m just one of those soon-to-be-college-graduates who is freaking out about the prospect of having to be a “real adult” (whatever that happens to mean). But all I have to say is, “to infinity and beyond!”

 

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