Few weeks back I came across this article through a friend’s status update on FaceBook. The article is – “What is it about 20 somethings?” and it was published in New York Times on August 18th 2010.
I love this article. The first time I read it, it silenced the crazy voices in my head. It said to me – You are not alone. I am not being a crazy 20 something year old, still trying to find my footing in this world.
For past few years, we have been slowly progressing towards “adulthood.” Slowly might be an understatement. If there was a time machine, by now it might have been put to good use. We lack the maturity our parents expect us to show. “In our times” is how most of conversations begin when sermons in life are delivered. And in such and similar situations, I have always wondered – am I really not ready to grow up? When 20s approached, it was exciting time. It meant coming of age, legal age for certain actions. It meant being responsible and no longer to be looked at childish. Yet when I stand in my prime 20s, I feel exactly opposite. Although started my professional life, I can not call myself 100% mature.
And I am not alone. All around I see my friends, fellow 20 something year olds, trying to find answers in their lives.
“We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.” Sociologists traditionally define the “transition to adulthood” as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child.
If these are the milestones, I have achieved only one – completing school. I am slowly progressing towards third- becoming financially independent (having just starting to work), having completely skipped leaving home. That seems a distant possibility. The only way I see myself leaving home is when I will reach the fourth milestone – marrying. And that is one milestone I have more than mixed feeling. I believe the milestones still stay same more or less. The important factor is that we are getting to them later and later. But just because we are getting there late, doesn’t mean it is wrong or we are irresponsible. Some of us might be taking more time than others to figure things out, but eventually we all reach our destination. Hasn’t some one said- it’s not about where you go but how you get there that matters.
The article summarizes the 20s perfectly.THE 20S ARE LIKE the stem cell of human development, the pluripotent moment when any of several outcomes is possible. Decisions and actions during this time have lasting ramifications. The 20s are when most people accumulate almost all of their formal education; when most people meet their future spouses and the friends they will keep; when most people start on the careers that they will stay with for many years. This is when adventures, experiments, travels, relationships are embarked on with an abandon that probably will not happen again.
Indeed, 20s have a lasting impression on our lives. This is the decade that will most likely make or break us and you get to live your life only once. So why not take the time to figure out what’s right for oneself. Make mistakes, take risks, learn something new, unlearn it and learn some thing new again, fall in love more than once, have childish crushes and wilder dreams, stumble, get hurt, celebrate life, travel… because this is the only time!!! After all there is no ‘control Z’ or ‘rewind’ in life!
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Tags: 20 something, culture media, what is it about 20 somethings? new york times
