My generation is doing this odd thing where we call out our own #adulting, and I honestly think this celebration and glorification of adulthood is good. Gamifying achievements like cooking something elaborate, opening a savings account or retirement fund, or just actually doing that laundry you've been putting off gives you a burst of dopamine, making you more likely to adult in the future (yes, "adult" has colloquially been verbed -- deal with it). Sharing accomplishments boosts self-esteem. Honestly, I feel great every time I pay bills. Still. I've been responsible for paying at least one utility since I was 17, so you think that would have worn off by now, but strangely enough the novelty remains. I batch-cooked a beef and vegetable soup for the week and brought in a tupperware-full for my coworker. When she wolfed it down today, starting when it was still too hot but persevering because it was yummy, making happy noises and faces and exclaiming "this is so good!" more than once, I felt an indecent amount of pride. I didn't want to let it show, but having another person -- especially an older colleague whose opinion I respect -- really enjoy my cooking straight-up made my week. I've also been riding the high from organizing my bookshelf and tacking up fairy lights in my room for like four days now. And I know I'm not the only one to experience these small moments of pride and joy in everyday events.
This feeling goes hand in hand with the impostor syndrome common among my generation where we can't quite believe we're adults. For many of the financially middling and more affluent among us, our parents have been helping us pay for basic expenses into our late 20s, which definitely contributes to that phenomenon (let's be real here, I'm still on my mom's cell phone plan and I lived with her for 2 years post-college). But is it so bad that we're holding onto our sense of fun? Is it so bad that we're turning being an adult into something to be excited about? As long as we're actually being responsible human adults, where's the harm?
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AuthorMaayan is a Manhattan-based opera singer. Archives
January 2019
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