The Myth of Maturity

Whilst enjoying one of my favorite past times, op shopping, I came across a paperback by Terry Apter called The Myth of Maturity, What Teenagers Need from Parents to Become Adults.

Something compelled me to pick it up.  The blurb did not interest me so much so I started flicking through the pages.

The paragraphs were well written and easy to understand.  More importantly they spoke to me.  Even though I am past my third decade of life, I still feel trapped in some sot of adolescent limbo.  My mother had kept me in a world of Disney Land princesses, where love, miracles and magic guide our actions. She also worked on instilling a sense of fear rather than knowledge when it came to sex, relationships and the potential hardships of life.

My mother, who did the best job she could despite her circumstances, had failed to open my eyes to reality.  I had been coddled and protected against anything "nasty" or unsavory,  which I imagine would be the first instinct of any care giver.  This however did not prepare me for the assault of experiences I was to encounter.  Pain was to be shunned rather than embraced in order to obtain greater satisfaction.  Risk was to be avoided rather than taken to possibly achieve great success. Anything that hurt was to be viewed as wrong rather than something that would build the id and grow the spirit.

I have been left a child, avoiding the "worries" and "commitments" of adulthood.  It has been a number of years now since I've realised that I am the only one who can do all the hard work required to drag my mind out of it's adolescent funk and venture into the rewarding, guilt free (in terms of sex and other things teenagers generally try to hide from their parents), very real and connected world of my adult self.  Not that there is anything wrong with having a childlike wonder, or a hunger for life that is associated with a young adult.  I just need a further dimension to my existence, one that lets go of the years that have passed and embraces the painful yet rewarding possibilities of the future.

The Myth of Maturity...