Getting old

People like to make it out that the West has done away with rites of adulthood and all that, but they are still there, just tweaked for the always-connected world.

This is how it is, you get to an age where youthful recklessness and idealisation can no longer carry you through life, you can continue with your half-assed childish ideals and live a miserable life, or you become an adult. You either throw yourself entirely into your ideals and give up the reckless way of your past or, do like most people and just focus on you and those people that are important to you; you spend a few hours every other year to cast your vote for a better world (and fail at it), you watch the 6 o’clock news, but your dedication is friends, family, and community.

While there is no ceremony, everyone around you will know you made the choice; if and when you decide to do so, you will feel different about the world and yourself, and you will be treated different, you will be an adult. You will coach that little league team even though you hate soccer and all kids who are not directly related to you, because you are the only one in the neighbourhood free on Wednesday nights. You will knock on 300 doors getting people to sign your petition about getting the pothole in front of your house fixed, that only you care about. You will lug radiators up 3 stories for a neighbour you barely know because you realised that while you can not change the world, you can make life for those around you better. You will become a pillar of the community in a community of pillars. You will grow old and bond with your grand-children over your shared tendency to wet the bed.

It’s not that bad, friend, the world is not ending, we’re just getting old.