Another Day, Another Year

Well, it's finally happened. I am now one hundred percent officially an adult. None of this "18+" anymore. I can rent a car, control my finances and buy alcohol...what an age.

Despite this milestone, I don't feel any older. Now, I know that everyone asks/gets asked whether or not they feel older on their birthday. And everyone says no, right? Well, last year I didn't say no. It was a big yes. Twenty felt so old! Two decades, twenty years ago, etc...the lingo just creates a sense of a long time. But twenty-one, not so much. Saying "twenty years from now" verses "twenty-one years from now" carries a bigger statement. There's just something about it. And I know of at least one person [my awesome flatmate, Brandy] who agrees. So I'm not alone out there.

It raises the question then, "why twenty-one?" What is so special about this number that opens so many doors for young adults? After all, the age of majority is eighteen. Well, I could turn this into a research paper, or maybe I won't. I'd rather just philosophically discuss the meaning of age, numbers and growing old.

In our [western, developed] society, age is strongly linked with identity. Well, for the first *two decades* at least. How many kids under the age of fourteen or so will say "Oh I'm almost ten," or "I'm six and a half," when asked their age? If my experiences are accurate (and I'd like to think they are), then most kids are as specific as possible in order to be "as old as possible" if you will.

After about fourteen, most kids will just tell you their age, but then there are the milestones to look forward to. The milestones that directly relate to age. Turning sixteen, turning eighteen-- both are HUGE. Something to look forward to. And of course there's twenty-one. The age of all ages. Or so society has made it seem.

But what if there was no such thing as age? What if we didn't keep track of how many years we have been on this Earth (or if we didn't keep track of years at all...but that's another concept entirely)? Many societies don't. And to be quite honest I don't know the real reason why they don't, but if I had to guess, it would be because age doesn't really matter. It is not a survival mechanism. It was probably just something made up to make us as humans feel special, to mark an occasion (or maybe early statisticians wanted to keep track birth/death records? [like I said, not a research paper, just going off of my own thoughts])

And that gets me wondering, if there was no such thing as age, would there such a thing as maturity? Would this song (the inspiration of this post, sorry it's so *immature*) be relevant?


I don't know.

And then there comes a point when age doesn't matter for a while. My guess is that for most Americans it is the day after their twenty first. For me, it was the day after I moved to Christchurch. You realize that there are no more big milestones. You are just in your twenties and that's it. Age starts becoming irrelevant--in your job, in school, in bars, even the age difference amongst friends becomes wider and wider. Remember in middle school when you wouldn't even hang out with seventh graders as an eighth grader, or in high school a senior was looked down upon for dating freshmen?

Soon, you start dreading getting older. It's just a reminder that your body is getting older. Time is moving quicker and things pass by. Instead of saying your almost forty three, you think that you've been forty for the past three years (ahem, Mom). And you don't even want to think about turning fifty.

Note: if I'm offending any of the older readers out there...I'm sorry. It is probably just because I lack the experience and wisdom of old age...

There's that point when age is only a reflection of how you feel. So that makes me twenty one still, my mom is in her mid thirties, and my dad is, well, forty (c'mon, your beard is finally silver, not blond!). And that is, in my opinion, the most important age. When you can decide how old you want to be.

So those are my thoughts on getting older. I had a great birthday, hanging out in the most beautiful place in the world with some amazing people. It wasn't your classic "American" twenty first, but it didn't need to be for me. I think celebrating birthdays is a little silly anyways. Sort of like saying to all of your friends, "Hey, buy me a drink because I was born today! Aren't you happy?"

I now [technically] have nothing to look forward to as far as age is concerned, but I can't wait to get older. I can't wait to see where this life leads me, and look back on all I have done. I can't wait to meet more great people, and watch the ones I know become wiser and extraordinary. I can't wait to be fifty but act like I haven't aged past thirty (if my parents are any indicators [and they should be, I share their genes] I shouldn't have a problem with that one).

I love you all, and wish you an amazing year!