As of May 3rd, 2026, I am exactly 18 years, 1 month and 14 days old.
That makes this my first blog post written as an adult!
I can feel the elderly fever taking a hold of me. First it was my back that started hurting, slowly but surely descending into tough knots that even a steamroller couldn't get out. Then I had a sudden yen for new socks, and started considering giving knitting a try. Lastly, and most horrifically, I found myself mysteriously drawn to the tender allure of floral print.
Shudder! How could this change have happened before my very (once 20/20 but now growing blurry...) eyes?! I suppose it happens to everyone - well, if you're lucky enough... But aren't I too young to be getting crow's feet?
I've already ticked off a few of the big ticket 'to-dos' once you're 18. Bought my first crate, started investing (not that there's an age barrier on that, but still felt like a very Adult thing to do)... I even gave my first job reference - as in, I was the boss they were asking for feedback from! Who allowed me to have this much power?!
I suppose I put far too much weight on a biological age when independence is more of a transition. I was 17 when I started living in a new city without any family, and younger still when I started managing my own finances, getting jobs etc. There's really no reason I feel so different at 18 than I did before.
We all have a lot of growing up to do, regardless of our age. I've noticed the cutoff date for youth always changes as we get older - at first, you feel like 13 marks the end of your childhood, then it swaps to 18, then we start wondering why 30 even counts as old.
I think it's a club no-one wants to leave, and for good reason. Youth is good because it's a time where you're allowed to feel uncertain, to ask silly questions and to lean on the people next to you. So as long as we have a sense of community in the people around us, and learn that things are rarely as serious as they feel, there's really no reason to be scared of getting old.
I feel very lucky that I am still supported now and have the privilege to say things aren't always that serious. For some people, their problems are ones that threaten their right to life, freedom, or equality. For me, I get to worry about whether florals are too grandma-y.
Jokes aside it's honestly been pretty weird coming to a new city and meeting people with completely different core values and beliefs to me. Sometimes it can be good, but other times it makes me a bit scared what others deem as normal. Violent anti-immigration practices or blatant human rights abuses being boiled down to casual dinner conversation. I hope this can be seen as an issue for humanity instead of a politically polarising discussion. Kids whose youth is being stripped away from them on a national level - you can fall anywhere on the political spectrum and still see how this is inhumane.
I think we should be there for the people close to us, because it is scary having to take care of yourself and no-one is in this alone. And I also hope we can be there for the people we don't know, who are being mistreated and forced to act beyond their age. I love you all and wish you the best from my many, many years of venerability - I am very lucky to have you by my side.
Sent from my Retirement Village.
(get it like the iPhone thing)