Impending Doom.

Let’s talk about adulthood today.

With less than 4 months left to my own 18th birthday and all my friends and classmates turning 18 already, the thoughts of really being a grown up and coming of age have started to gain a strong foothold within me. It is sometimes scary, sometimes something to look forward to, sometimes nerve-racking and sometimes liberating.

With these comes a wave of strong nostalgia and wrapping my head around the passage of time.Till I was 10, I couldn’t wait to grow up.Time seemed to go slowly and I was acutely aware of each passing month.When I turned 11, time suddenly sped up and before I knew it, I was 14  and off to a new school and for the first time in my life I felt myself wondering,”Where did all this time go?”The same happened all through high school.And even now, am going I still find myself wondering how in the world I am going to be 18 years old.

The best part of it for me currently is to escape the constant tussle between being a child and an adult that being a teenager is all about.I’ll still be a teenager for two more years but no one will accuse me of growing up too fast or acting too grown up when I am a child or behaving like a child when I should be more mature .(On second thought, maybe I’ll still not be escaping this one.)

Adulthood.The sheer act of being 18 years old.Still, a teenager but also carrying the title of being an adult.That is what I am approaching now.And I still wonder what the whole fuss is about.I still feel the same, probably still will.And what all does being an adult really offer? Voting rights( in most countries), more independence, more responsibility and to act more mature and deal with ‘real’ problems.But with great independence comes great responsibility.( In the style of the Spiderman movies circa 2002)

But does it mean I can’t read young adult fiction when I’m a not so young adult ? Or I can’t watch animation films or cartoons because they are for children, something I will effectively not be anymore?  Can I not crack poor jokes anymore because that is childish?These thoughts scare me, hence the title.Seeming doomlike, because I still enjoy animation movies and like cracking poor jokes at times and I love young adult fiction.

Also, as a reminder to you all of how old you are(Why would I suffer with these nostalgia waves and realisations of passage of time alone?) As of next year all the quintessential 90’s kids would not be kids anymore, us being the 1999 bunch.

Talking of the 90’s I would like to conclude, with hope and with what Monica said to Rachel in Friends when she had her own rite of passage of sorts,” Welcome to the real world! It sucks! You’re going to love it!”

THIS POST’S QUESTION: When did you first realise that time was passing too fast or that you were now a grown up?  Comment below with what you think about it,I’d love to hear from you!