Ready to Role

Unleashing the Common Myth of Adulthood

I always thought there would be a significant moment in time  when I felt like an adult.
You know, living 100% on my own, working towards a stimulating and exciting career, independent and successful, happy and settled. I thought this time would come immediately after college; a vivid image of myself, diploma in hand, ready to take on the world with one success story after another. 

Over two years later, as I walk back from my friend's apartment, soup pot in hand, housing the butternut squash she had just so effortlessly peeled and cubed, I wonder: when will I deem myself worthy of adulthood? Will it be when I suddenly decide it's time to invest in a crock pot or that cutco knife that cuts squash beautifully? Does gladly accepting the roll of quarters my dad brings every time he drives through town make me less of an adult, or is it the fact that these quarters actually pay for my laundry? I'm wondering, is there a moment when it all kicks into high gear? Is adulthood simply about an age number or is it all in the attitude? Does it begin when I buy my first home, have my first baby and start to make six figures in a thriving, fast-paced career? 
Am I missing the secret to growing up?

As I begin each day, and as the weeks pass by, I am starting to see that while there are clear stepping stones in life, there are no definitive barriers that separate one stage of life from another. One of my best friends just had her first son and she still is overwhelmed by the idea of what "being an adult" actually means. The fact is, I have been living away from home, independently for years now. I pay my bills, feed myself, go out with friends and have no desire to change this. I travel alone as often as I can and yet I often feel like I am traveling through life waiting for the lightbulb to go off that tells me-- Okay, now you're a "successful, normal, adult." Is adulthood a true rite of passage or it simply a myth?

Success. Normalcy. Adulthood... I'm convinced they are all relative, and no one moment can clarify either as being fully "achieved." There will never be an internal buzzer that goes off that tells me I am any more of a grown up than I was the day before, because life itself is about growing up. There is not an end point to this process, despite what I have convinced myself to be true over the years. However, what is "successful and "normal" inside this realm of "adulthood," may not fit into the happiness spectrum at all-- and happiness, no matter what anyone says, is the ultimate human aim. In fact, I'd venture to say that the greatest level of success I can imagine is the genuine ability to feel electric, spontaneous, passionate, raw happiness, with no end in sight.

I may never feel ready to take on the tall order of adulthood, but I wonder if anyone ever does. However, the role I take in my life is absolutely my choice and my responsibility, and taking on that role is what it means to live life with intention and curiosity; no one is going to do the living, the learning, the growing [up] for me.


Hello mythical world of adulthood, I'm ready to role.

In the meantime, I'll let you know if I feel any more like an adult once I purchase a crock pot.


*photo credit via Pinterest