Penny Post #28: There Is Also

Adulthood has hit me like a truck.

I turned 18 nearly 5 years ago. Legally an adult. In those 5 years, I voted and I drank. The perfect American.

And yet adulthood is so much more:

There are the bills for things that you didn’t know weren’t free.

Yet there is also the joy in finding a book for free in a neighborhood library.

There is the endless waiting for the 15th and the 30th of each month.

Yet there is also the dinner plans to celebrate your first pay day.

There are the consequences when your humanness rears its head again.

Yet there is also the gratitude when the same exact humanness provides you the opportunity to relate & connect.

There is the crushing weight of responsibility with every “adult” decision made.

Yet there is also the empowerment that comes with knowing your future is yours.

There is the paying to do laundry every week.

Yet there is also the slipping into a recently-laundered, warm set of pajamas that feels oh-so-right.

There is the rush hour traffic.

Yet there is also the rediscovery of several albums that take your breath away.

There is the never-ending grocery shopping list.

Yet there is also the dignity in nourishing yourself with meals that work for you.

There is the the ache of hearing “twenty-three” and thinking “oh, I’m old”.

Yet there is also the hope of turning twenty-three and knowing how much life there is left to live.

There is the taunting scroll on linkedin or zip recruiter or indeed.

Yet there is also the accomplished feeling when you get an interview…and then eventually the job.

There are the random sun spots and moles that arise on your skin without permission.

Yet there is also the sun, the glorious sun, that rises each day like a promise.

The “more” of adulthood is this: transforming the burden into a privilege. What do I have to do vs. What do I get to do? The language is subtle, but it’s there. It is what I’ve been tuning my ear to since 18, yet what has become louder still on the cusp of 23.

I hear you, universe. There is this. Yet there is also this.

Until next time,

Kiera