Since I was five years old, I have been in a rush to grow up. Playing house with the other kids in the neighborhood – we always had to be older. We would fight over who got to be the teenager, who was in college, who was the adult, cursing the days we were stuck being the baby. There was something so magical about the idea of being a “grown-up”, and I think this childhood fascination of what adult independence means remains relevant. In high school, we were constantly waiting for the next big move. Dreaming of the day we would finally get our licenses, when we would get to go to prom, stay out past curfew, and finally turn 18. Finally become a mini adult. Suddenly we are in college. One year goes by, and then two, and out of nowhere we are leasing apartments and worrying about rent and worrying about grades and worrying about jobs… dreams about marriage or kids turn in to questions of time and feasibility. Our lives of playing pretend suddenly become real, and after almost two decades of dreaming we find ourselves smacked into reality. Decades of dreams turn to “I have 4 years to figure my life out” and in that instance, a sense of innocence is lost. Growing up seemed forever. But those two decades have the potential to be so short in comparison to the rest of our lives. So why rush?
Our twenties are short and speed by too quickly when weighed down with the stressors of transitioning into adult life. However, these years are ours to cherish. This is a time for us to reclaim our innocence, reclaim the whimsicality of our childhood imaginations, reclaim the spontaneity of life. We are in a rush to grow up. And yes, while it is true that the world these days gives us little choice except to grow up, that does not mean we must erase the beauty of our sense of adventure and longing for the unknown. We must find the time to reclaim our innocence. We must learn it is ok, and in fact necessary, to drop life’s complexity for an hour, hop in the car, and drive. Just roll the top down, blare some angsty music, and find the closest 24-hour diner with your friends. One hour is not going to destroy your GPA; rather, it will rekindle a little of that fire you had growing up. We played house and argued over who got to play the “cool college sister.” We are living as who we always pretended to be. Sure, our lives are not what we expected, but it’s time we started to live the lives that would make our younger selves proud.