I Refuse to Grow Up

Some smart guy (Oscar Wilde) once upon a time stated something along the lines of "youth is wasted on the young" I would say "childhood is wasted on children."

Childhood is often wasted. Prime childhood years are ages 9~11 in my opinion. After that, you're in middle school and no one is at their best in middle school. After middle school is high school which is solidly teenage years. Here's the thing, I don't know about you but I barely remember anything from elementary school.

I do remember that I spend a lot of time wishing to be older or trying to be more mature. I couldn't wait until I got the freedoms afforded by growing up, but I failed to account for the responsibilities of growing up. Even now I struggle to recognize the freedom afforded to me by the amount of free time I have.

I still try to "grow up" in some ways like figuring out college assignments, career networking, and finances. I do want to be a competent adult. However, there are other things when I am in the process of letting go of stigma in order to do what brings me joy. I've started to see the value in the childlike things of life.

One of the things I really like about being a teenager is that there is a certain social allowance to be pure stupid at times. Teenagers are expected to be irresponsible so teenagers being childish is often seen as a benefit. I hope to eventually master the art of not caring what other people think but I'm not there yet.

Some people like to shame others because their hobbies are 'childlike' but my question is: what's the harm in that? Some people think that adults aren't entitled to have fun or can't do something they like because it's "for children". There are a lot of adult things that are just rebranded kid things. Ikea furniture is just Legos for adults. Role-Playing Games are just pretend games packaged up with rules and numbers to appeal to adults. Casinos are just arcades for adults.

At the end of the day, why should anyone care if Steve from Human Resources plays Minecraft in his free time?

I believe that maturing is not eliminating one's inner child but adding an inner parent. Traits like responsibility are not in direct conflict with the pursuit of fun. For me at least, maturation has mostly been developing discipline and foresight. Work is a higher priority than fun. There is a time and a place for fun which is the inner parent's job to decide. When fun is appropriate it is the inner child's job to enjoy it.

I think we need to end the idea that being an adult means that fun isn't allowed anymore. Yes, adults have responsibilities that require being responsible, but the privilege of adulting is freedom. If you're an adult with your own job, money, and car who's to tell you that you can't take yourself to a theme park?

Usually, as people age their preferences change. There are things that child me wanted that I no longer want. There are things that preteen me thought were childish that I now want. There are things that I wouldn't have liked as a child that I like now that I'm older. There are things that I've liked for as long as I can remember and will probably continue to like for a long time. All these things are legitimate. It's not wrong for your likes and dislikes to change over time.

The takeaway is that you should do what is responsible to do and what makes you happy. Life is all about balance and you deserve to enjoy things even if they aren't the least bit productive.

Do something fun today.