Saturday, December 6, 2008
Growing Older But Not Up
My birthday's getting closer. Well...relatively closer. It's a month away.
Nonetheless I'm getting older and the idea isn't necessarily appealing to me. In fact I find the idea of growing up ultimately confusing and depressing. It never made sense to me that one day you were considered a young boy and than the next you were allowed to buy pornography, cigarettes, and lottery tickets and now you were considered an adult. In celebration of my 18th birthday I got the joy of signing up for the Army Reserve services need they ever reinstate a draft. A day before I wasn't allowed to vote and the next I could be enlisted into the army. The idea seemed a bit ridiculous, which is why after middle school when I moved away from home to a boarding school I stopped celebrating my birthday. Instead I focused on everyday and the small things in life that I was blessed with as I got older. However, to me the thing I'm most protective about is staying young. To this day a number of my friends still refuse to go shopping with me for a number of reasons. One such person was a friend who took me to buy my bed when I arrived at school. My process was quite similar to the way I bought a bed when I was a kid. I jumped up and down on them on all fours and picked the one that was the most fun to just fall on. Needless to say since than I have not been shopping with that friend. However, staying young is essential to my view that I never want to grow up. It's always been more fun to stay young. So until that day that I absolutely must grow up, I plan on hanging on to as much innocence and childness that I can. Even if I do turn 21 in a month.
Nonetheless I'm getting older and the idea isn't necessarily appealing to me. In fact I find the idea of growing up ultimately confusing and depressing. It never made sense to me that one day you were considered a young boy and than the next you were allowed to buy pornography, cigarettes, and lottery tickets and now you were considered an adult. In celebration of my 18th birthday I got the joy of signing up for the Army Reserve services need they ever reinstate a draft. A day before I wasn't allowed to vote and the next I could be enlisted into the army. The idea seemed a bit ridiculous, which is why after middle school when I moved away from home to a boarding school I stopped celebrating my birthday. Instead I focused on everyday and the small things in life that I was blessed with as I got older. However, to me the thing I'm most protective about is staying young. To this day a number of my friends still refuse to go shopping with me for a number of reasons. One such person was a friend who took me to buy my bed when I arrived at school. My process was quite similar to the way I bought a bed when I was a kid. I jumped up and down on them on all fours and picked the one that was the most fun to just fall on. Needless to say since than I have not been shopping with that friend. However, staying young is essential to my view that I never want to grow up. It's always been more fun to stay young. So until that day that I absolutely must grow up, I plan on hanging on to as much innocence and childness that I can. Even if I do turn 21 in a month.
Living in the Slow Lane
The end of the term is fast approaching and it seems college students are being taught one last lesson. There is nothing wrong with taking a break and stepping away from the world. While some students blow off steam drinking or with a significant other, there are some who still manage to step out of our busy world to relax. Some do this by going to coffee and reading a book. Others who live nearby escape back to home to see family. Recently however as the academic and work world has become more prominent the raise in the number of kids looking for these leisure activities.
With a view like this is there any reason that CD's such as Kenny Chesney's new Luck Old Sun album are such huge successes? The CD proclaims the wonders of living the slower life in the islands and finding the escape and balance that come with working hard. The truth is that people are looking to balance out their lives. All life needs balance between living healthy, staying social, and working hard. As we begin to work harder and harder that side of the triangle begins to overbear the other two unless we find a way to evenly balance everything. For some people this means hitting the gym with friends during exam. For others it's eating healthy and staying in touch with the ones they love as they look to relax. What does it mean to maintain a blanced lifestyle and how should people go about doing it?
For me, I'll just put on my Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett and remind myself there's nothing like the carribean islands as I study.
With a view like this is there any reason that CD's such as Kenny Chesney's new Luck Old Sun album are such huge successes? The CD proclaims the wonders of living the slower life in the islands and finding the escape and balance that come with working hard. The truth is that people are looking to balance out their lives. All life needs balance between living healthy, staying social, and working hard. As we begin to work harder and harder that side of the triangle begins to overbear the other two unless we find a way to evenly balance everything. For some people this means hitting the gym with friends during exam. For others it's eating healthy and staying in touch with the ones they love as they look to relax. What does it mean to maintain a blanced lifestyle and how should people go about doing it?
For me, I'll just put on my Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett and remind myself there's nothing like the carribean islands as I study.
The Other Side of Sex
"I'm pregnant"
The words appeared on my computer. 1,341 miles away one of my closest friends had just told me the life changing news over Instant Messenger. A child of adoption and having been raised in a catholic family and attending a catholic high school and college, I didn't have to ask her what her views on what would be happening next were. It stunned me to hear that one of my closest friends was going to be a mother. Though she always was the caring type it was still hard to see someone I had spent so much time with and even dated at one point open up the idea of taking care of a child.
The truth is in today's culture sex is such a common part of relationships, particularly in college. People it seems often look to find the intimacy and closeness that comes with sex often not realizing the consequences. I know that I've constantly found that closeness throughout my life often not thinking past the moment. However, America has one of the highest pregnancy rates of developed countries with a 7.5% chance of a teenager getting pregnant. The interesting thing about this statistic is it does not take into account the majority of kids in college where sex much more open. Even though my friend was on the pill, used a condom and even tracked the times when she was most likely to get pregnant, it happened eventually. The truth is that sex is prevalent and I don't think anyone would give it up given it's place in our culture. In a recent survey in the UK the surveyor's found that "As the credit crunch bites, Britons may be turning to sex as a cheap way to pass the time" (complete article here). What than is the appropriate approach to sex and pregnancy in today's culture and what do people feel should be acceptable?
The words appeared on my computer. 1,341 miles away one of my closest friends had just told me the life changing news over Instant Messenger. A child of adoption and having been raised in a catholic family and attending a catholic high school and college, I didn't have to ask her what her views on what would be happening next were. It stunned me to hear that one of my closest friends was going to be a mother. Though she always was the caring type it was still hard to see someone I had spent so much time with and even dated at one point open up the idea of taking care of a child.
The truth is in today's culture sex is such a common part of relationships, particularly in college. People it seems often look to find the intimacy and closeness that comes with sex often not realizing the consequences. I know that I've constantly found that closeness throughout my life often not thinking past the moment. However, America has one of the highest pregnancy rates of developed countries with a 7.5% chance of a teenager getting pregnant. The interesting thing about this statistic is it does not take into account the majority of kids in college where sex much more open. Even though my friend was on the pill, used a condom and even tracked the times when she was most likely to get pregnant, it happened eventually. The truth is that sex is prevalent and I don't think anyone would give it up given it's place in our culture. In a recent survey in the UK the surveyor's found that "As the credit crunch bites, Britons may be turning to sex as a cheap way to pass the time" (complete article here). What than is the appropriate approach to sex and pregnancy in today's culture and what do people feel should be acceptable?
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