Am I an Adult?

Suddenly a lotta tags... hold on.......

Kairos: :9 hehehe... and I'm reluctant to take on full-time positions now, because of tuition commitments and possible-impending-donno-if-gahmen-wants-me NIE. Freelance work, however, is always welcome...... :D

In a way, this NIE thing is pretty irritating. I don't know whether I should seek out other forms of work because I might get this teaching gig. Ya, I do have that much confidence that I didn't totally screw up the interview. [Someone I know actually got told to his face that he should've become a priest. *wide-eyed*] So I might actually have a 50-50 chance of getting it. And I might take it up.

But then what if I should get other offers?

Gods, the spinning signpost is just spinning faster and faster....

And then there's the other side of me that says, why should I listen to my parents so much, and follow the norm so much? What's wrong with kicking back and striking one's own path, so long as it not be immoral or cause hurt to other innocent beings? Why do I have to keep listening to other people about how I should live my life?

If I be happy now, why do anything to change it?

But will I be like this forever?

What if something should happen to blast me out of this comfortable armchair in the future?

ARGH!!!!! I DONNO WANNA THINK ABOUT MY FUTURE ANYMORE!!! LET SOME CAR HIT ME DOWN IN THE ROAD, I DON'T CARE!!!

Goldfish: That cigar remark...... is jus too er......... not looking at havanas the same way again... :p but many congrats on your scholarship!

My fren here has gotten a scholarship to study what she loves in another country. My one thought to that is HTF DO I GET MESELF ONE OF THOSE?????

And oh yea, congrats again. :p

But on her blog, she wonders about how very un-adult it seems, to not be crunching numbers for a living, but still, at 23, be studying again, back in school again.

It's as if making a living, or doing something business-y has become a rite of passage of adulthood for most people. In the States, or Europe, it's the ability to move out of your parents' home. [Impractical, and almost impossible here for most people because of high property prices] In Asia, or rather Singapore, it's the ability to earn money, and contribute to the family coffers.

How much cultures differ huh? On one hand, the ability to strike out your path. On the other hand, the ability to contribute responsibly to the family.

Thus, in Asia, to still be studying, to still be in school, one is considered a student. A child, an adolescent, who has not experienced the 'real world', or in their thinking, the 'working world'.

Thus, are we children? Or adults? Biology states that we are adults. Society sees us as children.

What do we have to go through to be fully considered an adult? Some adults, with their HDB flat, car, 2 kids and various bill payments to be made, are childish and immature beyond belief, and yet they consider themselves adults, on the basis that they have done things, eg have kids, that younger people are not able to do.

And yet, their mindless pursuit of education, or material needs, does that not show their immaturity? Or their close-minded and uneducated criticism of all around them, of all they do not understand, or which does not fit into their narrow-minded view of the world, does that not show a level of immaturity as well?

Some kids, due to societal or familial circumstances, are wise beyond their years. They have seen and experienced things that no child their age has ever, or should ever have to experience. They have had to go through hardships and torments unfelt by most adults. They have had to grow up harder than most adults.

And before they know it, they are old. They are old beyond their years, the withered eyes of tired old age looking out from a body fresh and young with youth.

So is there ever a true state of maturity that we can reach? Something that's beyond the surface description that society has ascribed to it? An undescribable quality that will define the person regardless of the circumstances, or the cloth he drapes himself in?

Even if he be dressed in awful clothing, even if he has no job, even if he has the most disgusting habits and is not afraid to show them, can this person display an aura of maturity around him, surprise you with his wisdom and insight, such that one will look at this hobo and think, "This, then, is truly an ADULT."

So if maturity is truly a state that is undefined by societal standards, maybe it's time we all started thinking about what it truly means to be a mature adult. And whether we can all aspire to reach that elusive state.

note: the author of this blog, despite having graduated from NUSSUX, has yet to find a corporate job, is hardly interested in doing so, and is leading a bohemian lifestyle of low tuition income while messing around with blogs, graphic software and comics, and downloading anime. Whether you want to consider her an 'adult' is another thing for discussion altogether. This is partly as a thought for goldfish. ;)