A great question

[cjsmith]

stolen from evilegg

What makes you feel really adult?

In the "I can't believe I'm getting away with this" category, my first responses were:

• Checking into a hotel with someone to whom I am not legally wed.
• Changing the landscaping around my house. It's not a rental -- I can pull all that ivy and put nice flowers or lawn in if I want to.
• Heck, saying the words "my house". (Until I ran out of money and chose to sell, the words "my airplane" were like that too. I mean really! I was allowed to purchase an airplane.)

Then there's the "Yes I do have responsibilities" category. Paying bills is like this. Taking sick kitties to the vet -- and, once, having to make that heartwrenching decision to euthanize -- definitely reminds me of my responsibilities. Entering into business contracts with random people hundreds of miles away is like this (oddly enough, my day job doesn't feel like this).

The "I have learned something" category defies description sometimes, but it's the one that brings the most frequent reminders that I'm an adult. I'll read something someone else wrote, or see someone do what I would have done ten years ago, and I will realize that I am definitely not twenty-five any more (much less seventeen). Usually I am very grateful.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That brings out multiple shadings of this question: "what makes you feel like others now perceive you as an adult and you therefore get certain privileges of adulthood" versus "what makes you see yourself as adult or grown-up or responsible".