growing up (i mean, if i have to)

March 6th, 2010 at 9:25 am . Posted in growing up is stupid, me me me .

It seems so many people around me are making big changes in their life. One of my favorite Chicago friends is leaving tonight and moving Pittsburgh. She’s getting married to an amazing guy this summer and they are getting ready to purchase a home.

My sister is moving across the country tomorrow. Co-habitation with her boyfriend in a brand new city, one she’s never even been to.  Getting ready to take the special effects and make up world by storm.

Friends trying so hard to start a family. And now soon there will be twin babies around for Auntie Lovely to spoil. Etsy, look out. I’m coming for you.

Marriage. Home buying. Living with boyfriends. Cross country moves.  Babies. It’s sometimes kind of hard to believe we are getting to that stage.

And then there is me.

Me with my Peter Pan Syndrome. Trying so hard to stop time in it’s tracks. Fighting the thought of growing up and trying to be 21 eternally.

But it hits.

I want to do amazing things too. I’m ready for it to be my turn to Do Epic Shit.

I’m not saying I’m going to settle down right now. I won’t be eloping to Vegas with the next guy I meet. I mean, unless it’s RPattz or maybe even Zac Efron. But that’s besides the point! Maybe I’ll move to a new city. Or return to school for real this time. Or maybe I’ll go the freelance route. Who knows.

It will come though. I just gotta keep moving. Learning. Working. Trying. Meeting. Writing. Traveling. Loving. Fighting. Doing.

But what I do know is, I won’t ever give up my Neverland ways completely. Every birthday will still be the [insert number] anniversary of my 21st birthday. I’ll still have ice cream for dinner. I’ll always be down for sleepovers with friends. I’ll continue to make forts out of blankets. And Disney World will still always be one of my favorite places on earth.

I welcome change but somethings just have to stay the same.

24 Comments ( Reply )

  1. Doniree
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 9:37 am

    Move to Boulder? Jamie, you do all kinds of wonderful EPIC shit, and I can’t wait to see what more you do. And you don’t have to grow up completely to do it :) I don’t intend to.

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  2. Margarita
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 9:38 am

    I’m with ya. And I already had a kid. I’m just not ready to give up some things that coincide with being young – and I think that’s alright. I think you should always have a piece of youth with you, even when you’re 50 – you should always have some fun!

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  3. Kyla Roma
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 10:04 am

    Outward, big obvious flashy changes aren’t the only kind that matter, they’re just the kind that are most obvious to point out. I can’t imagine how you haven’t been doing amazing things all year, from the little decisions down to the big ones =)

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  4. tillie
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 10:40 am

    I always wish I had the balls to just pick up and start over. I kinda did that when I left my small home town to go to a huge city to get married…but I left to do THAT. Not on my own accord.

    Just remember that no matter what everyone else is doing…you need to do what makes YOU happy. If you love your life why change it?

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  5. Rachel
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 10:42 am

    you’re amazing. just FYI.

    one of my girlfriends and i were eating dinner the other night at her place and kept laughing about how much fun it is to “play grownup”. i have zero intentions of growing up, and i’m totally okay with that.

    you’re exactly where you need to be my love. you’re a rockstar.

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  6. Heather Rose
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 12:42 pm

    I’m with you all the way. You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever! That’s my motto. I have a lot of mottoes, but that’s a regularly referenced one. ^_^ Having fun is timeless. Why just let the young whipper snappers have it all?

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  7. Paula
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 1:42 pm

    It’s weird, i was thinking about this kinda stuff earlier. I was with two of my friends, former flatmates who both moved out of my place and in with their boyfriends around about the same time. They’re younger than me, and I’m 30 and still living in a flatshare, single, and working in a silly admin role. I don’t know where my plans to write the most bonk-filled bonkbuster ever went to. Or to find my dream job. Or be famous.

    I still want these, and I want to be a grown up. But at the same time . . . I kinda like where I am right now. I feel comfortable here.

    It’s a bit of a head-fuck. That’s the only way I can sum it up personally…

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  8. Stephanie
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 2:00 pm

    Growing up isn’t as important as being happy with what you are doing!

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  9. Ashley
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 2:04 pm

    I couldn’t agree more: RPatz and Zac would both make me scrap my responsible plans to take off for Vegas. While I wait, though, I’ll say that taking control of my finances has done more to make me feel like an adult than anything else had before. Now I’m trying to dress more like an adult as well. But, when I talk to my best friend who has been my best friend since high school, we still talk like we are in high school. I don’t see anything wrong with that!

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  10. Karen
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 4:23 pm

    You know, I’m 26 years old (and will be 27 in June), but in Germany we take things a little slower, hardly any of my friends here are married (two are, another one is getting married at the end of the month, and two of them are actually Americans) and none have babies. So I don’t feel as pressured to ‘grow up’. Though I am finally graduating this summer (with an MA) and that will inevitably lead to at least some growing up (as in being financially responsible for myself, moving again etc.).

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    Karen Reply:
    March 6th, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    Oops, I wasn’t done yet. Basically, what I’m saying is, everyone does things differently, don’t ever let anyone pressure you into something you’re not ready for yet, regardless of what the cultural convention is. It’ll all happen eventually. But it seems you already know that. :)

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  11. Jenny
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 9:36 pm

    There’s always time to grow up, I say. And really, who doesn’t love ice cream for dinner? That’s what I’d like to know. :)

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  12. Melissa
    Mar 06, 2010 @ 10:31 pm

    This made me giggle. I’m not a huge fan of growing up, either. Now I’m a wife and step mother… Yet I still want to be the kid!!

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  13. amy
    Mar 07, 2010 @ 12:42 am

    I see no reason to give up blanket forts.

    Ever.

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  14. tmc
    Mar 07, 2010 @ 10:44 am

    I’m in the same boat and I’m in my mid-30s! I’m all for growth and change but some things have just got to stay.

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  15. E.P.
    Mar 07, 2010 @ 12:14 pm

    I think you’ve got the right idea and really, you’re already doing epic shit. You’re freaking awesome and nobody can take that away from you.

    Also? Growing up is overrated. It’s way more fun to be young at heart.

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  16. nic
    Mar 07, 2010 @ 4:52 pm

    I’ve kinda been in the same situation the last couple of years. Everyone around me keeps moving on and away…changing their jobs, their homes, their names, their statuses as single gal pal to married gal pal and mommy gal pal. It’s….I don’t know exactly. Odd maybe? Odd in that I’m still here living the same way I have for the past five years. Same apt., same job, same name, same dating status. Same….blah blah blah.

    I’m like you, deep down I’m cool with it. Sometimes though, I wish I didn’t feel like everyone was rushing to move on all the time.

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  17. Ms. Salti
    Mar 08, 2010 @ 12:38 am

    I know how you feel… I just turned 30 and I can’t help but seriously freak out everytime I think about how fast time is moving along! Good luck with your epic shit. Can’t wait to hear all about it!

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  18. Windsor Grace
    Mar 08, 2010 @ 9:36 am

    Dude. I am totally having the same moment. Right. Now.

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  19. Allyson
    Mar 08, 2010 @ 9:54 am

    I was just writing about this, too! My little brother got freaking married on Friday! And he is having a baby this summer. It blows my mind. I’ve got to step up my game a little, too!

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  20. StaceyParadise
    Mar 08, 2010 @ 12:53 pm

    You are already pretty epically awesome! So you’re not doing THOSE kinds of changes. You’re still having fun and doing a lot of LIVING. And that’s the most important thing. I may have gotten married a few months ago, but I still look around and think “Shit. When did I grow up?!” I’m down for sleepovers and blanket forts and ice cream for dinner anytime, doll.

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  21. MinD
    Mar 08, 2010 @ 3:52 pm

    Even though I’m one of those “moving in with the boyfriend” people, I don’t feel like I’m growing up at all. I feel like time stopped at 22. I got a “grown up” job and here I sit, waiting for life to happen still. I guess some of us feel the same thing but at different stages. Maybe?

    And really, there’s nothing wrong with clinging to those parts of ourselves, if you ask me. Who wants to grow up too fast anyway? Not me, that’s for damn sure.

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  22. terra
    Mar 11, 2010 @ 5:31 pm

    This is so exactly what I needed to read on the eve on my 26th birthday.

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  23. Macala Wright
    Mar 13, 2010 @ 8:36 pm

    I never wanted to grow up, until I turned 30. Then I realized I could afford the fabulous shoes and figured it wasn’t so bad. Things change, but some things stay the same, it’s okay to hold onto some traditions.

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