 The meaning of maturity2009-Jan-12 |
In a relatively short amount of time I turn 23. With this, comes the expectation of maturity. I sincerely wonder what maturity means. I want to say maturity begins when you start to accept "reality" but "reality" is subjective. There is no making sense of the World, ever. Therefore "Maturity" simply means "Giving up on trying to figure the World out". I consider the young person, who has no inhibitions, or worries, or responsibilities to be the epitome of humanity. Thriving to learn instead of thriving to earn.
As a 19 year old I started to question everything in life. From work, to authority, from money, to responsibility. I questioned it, because it seems forced upon us. We do not choose a life of work, a life of bending over for authority, we're expected to embrace it, because it just IS. It's how it is. There is no other route. I started to question this. Why am I working to make other people money? When I grow old, would I look back on a life as an I.T Technician and say "well that was worth it". Who am I benefitting other than the guys in charge? In what way, is that life not a waste?
Instead of being encouraged to question everything, never accept anything as set in stone, instead of being helped to understand the search for answers, we're instead told to "grow up" or "get a job" or "stop slacking". It isn't slacking, it's being a human, not a money making machine.
I've questioned things like this ever since. But I get the horrible feeling that i'm supposed to question it, i'm expected to have the rebellious attitude, but then by the time I reach my mid twenties, the thought train crashes, and maturity is supposed to kick in. The word "Maturity" itself strikes me as somewhat contradictory. Maturity, if I were to write the dictionary, means "giving up" and accepting everything as it is, never questionning and just adhering, accepting that nothing will ever change, becoming "reality's" bitch. In essence, that's maturity. And yet the word itself, has come to represent sophistication, discipline, mental strength and strong ambition. It's contradictory because there is no mental strength in trading in your core beliefs for a life of aquiscing to every request thrown at you in the hope of a decent pay packet.
Maturity is a word that represents a dubious ideal that i'm not entirely sure I want to be a part of. It goes on my list of manipulative language along side 'Freedom' and 'Democracy'. In my overly "immature" mind, I see nothing wrong with a deep need to question the World. A deep need to reject Authority on the basis that these people are just people, regardless of social status, and a deep need to never accept the way things are, to want to see an improved World. This isn't the product of the general theory of immaturity, simply me being me.
Kids, teenagers and people within their early twenties want to ask Why. "Why" are things as they are? "Why" can't the world be better? "Why" must we all live by Conservative values and just accept the way things are? The transition to maturity simply means abandoning that beautiful longing for answers, and replacing it with blind acceptance. If this is maturity, I never want to be mature.
So what else then, constitutes maturity? The ability to rationalise an argument? A lot of Politicians can't do that today. In fact, a lot of business men and women, and a lot of fully grown adults are incapable of throwing together a logical argument. The ability to say sorry when one is wrong? That's not maturity, that's common sense and a good upbringing. Or is maturity simply the idea that we should never stop questioning, we should never stop laughing, we should never take anything in life seriously, and we should never stop playing. |
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2009-Jan-12 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by WelshPixie |
"Society" seems content to slap a label on a word and expect everybody to conform. It's very 1984; somewhere along the line came forgetting that we're all individual. We all interpret things differently - or SHOULD interpret them differently - whether we reach the same end conclusion or not is irrelevant to the path we take in reaching it.
'Mature' is one such word. In my eyes, the very fact that you are questioning these things makes you mature (by my standards and interpretation). You look beyond the limitations that would be imposed on you - limitations that other people don't even notice they're living to. To say you have an immature approach to some things isn't necessarily a bad thing either; being 'childish', while the word itself resonates with some 'badness' (that is again slapped on by 'society'), being in touch with your inner child is good. Children have fun. Everything is new and fresh to them; there are no consequences and the world is an awaiting adventure. Therefore, I believe being childish is good - and I heartily believe that one can be both childish AND mature, and to be so is to have the perfect balance of both worlds.
Just be whatever you're comfortable being. After all, it's YOUR life - screw everybody else. Live it for you - no one else is gonna. ;o) |
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2009-Jan-12 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by sarai |
On being childish
Styles and I took nerf guns to his office, we scared the living shit outa the two guys working night shift, they called us weird for having toys "at our age", Styles and I looked at each other and said "you're NEVER too old for toys! |
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