I have been thinking a lot
about the concept of youth recently. By that I don't mean the whole media thing
with youthful skin etc, no I just mean then part between teenage years and
(young) adulthood. A friend of mine is getting married this summer and she
recently said it will be the end of her youth. Another friend said that it was part
of her youth to sit in a car with me and chat for hours. Both things together
made me think about what I feel that youth is like, how I would determine it
exactly, and I came up with a definition that somehow pleased me.
Youth is a time of taking
up responsibility. As a kid, you can't take care of yourself. Your parents make
all your appointments; they give you food, money, shelter, cloths. You don't
really own anything. The older you get, the more is yours. Pocket money is the
first time you get responsibility for your finances. You start to make your own
appointments, with friends, the hairdresser or the dentist. At some points you
will travel alone for the first time. I was 11 years old when I took a 1h train
journey by myself for the first time. I went to see a friend and it all
happened on very short notice.
It all happens at a
different pace for each individual, but it all happens at some point. When you
are a teenager you are already kind of independent, at least in your late
teens, most have either finished high school or some other form of basic
education, if you want to stay out late, then you can, because you are either
close to turning of age, or you are already. Your parents might still give you
rules, but most leave you be, you should be old enough to judge a matter.
That's when youth starts
for me, when you are old enough to judge, someone who is able to take care of themselves,
a responsible human being. It is not exactly tied to an age, but more to a
stage of mind. You may choose to take care for other people, but you are mostly
supposed to take care of your own well being. Travel the world, study, go
crazy. Just do it, because you are as independent as you'll ever be. Your future belongs to you
alone-
Well why did my friend say
that her youth was ending? She wasn't sad about the fact, just commenting on
the inevitable. Also she was looking forward to this chapter to end I guess.
Her youth in that sense is ending, because she won't be independent anymore.
She will take up responsibility for her husband, for an "us" instead
of a "me/I". Her youth is ending not because she is turning a certain
age, but because all of a sudden she is tied to something. Something good I'd
say, but still tied.
I asked myself what
"makes" my youth. I feel like I’m currently in the middle of it. I
have a lot of things going on and I’m happy with that busyness, even though it
means that I am not always doing the things I need to do exactly when I have to
do them. It’s all about priorities. My youth consists of long days and short
nights. Late night talks, late nights going out, late nights reading, studying/
paper writing, watching movies, chatting on whatsapp, maybe even sleeping.
Every once in a while I'll spend a night tossing and turning in my bed, because
the future scares me. Throughout the day I work, go to church, go to uni, chat,
drink tea/hot chocolate at starbucks, read, I write, enjoy my free time that I
have to my own availability. I make plans on my own and I love nothing more
than deciding spontaneously to do something. Those things I listed are not
youth-only, but I guess that when I'm older I will tell stories of that.
I don't travel the world; I
prefer seeing the world of my friends, of the people around me. I live through
others, throughout those deep and honest conversations that just happen. I want
to seize my youth as long as I am in this season, for when it ends for whatever
reason, I'll have a feeling that it is indeed time to finish this chapter and
start a new one.
Until then, I'll have my fun right where I am at!
Cheerio.
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