But then, I have to ask myself. AM I mature? IS this maturity? Or is it just... complacency? Or are they, in fact, the same thing?
Think about it. When you're a teenager, isn't everything fresher, and newer, and rawer? You're capable of working up MORE outrage over events and situations which adults would view as comparatively minor. The smallest slights sting like cuts on your skin. It's no surprise that most revolutionaries and rabble-rousers are young, is it? At that age you sincerely believe that you CAN make a difference, so your outrage runs rampant. You're still fairly self-involved, so everything that happens to YOU is of major importance, good OR bad.
And once you grow up and get out, you begin to see exactly how small you are, comparatively, and how little you can actually do. Some of you, bless you, soldier on, making what little difference you can. You've gotten so many stings that you've stopped feeling each one so clearly; you begin to understand that sometimes people hurt you and they didn't mean to. The world stops revolving entirely around you and how you feel.
And THAT's maturity: a perpetual shell of complacency around your inner self. People refer to teenagers as 'raw', but really, they just leave their sensitive inner selves exposed to be scraped on constantly, until they grow emotional calluses. And soon, there's their shell. Ta freaking da, welcome to the real world, no charge.
Some people never grow a shell, of course. They never get used to it. Each slight stings just as badly, and they're paralyzed with anger and depression and unable to function. Some people never achieve true maturity, either. Somehow, these people are the same people.
It's sad, but true; if you cannot, somehow, shrug off the constant barbs that other people throw at you, you WILL NOT be able to function in adult society. Remember Mooncalf-mature? Sure you do. It's right down there below this entry.
Some people can't function because of emotional or mental disorders. Many more people believe that they have one of those disorders, when in fact, they don't. Whether your inability to function is a true disorder or just an inability to grow up is none of my business.
Of course, some things DO still outrage us through our shell. Some things DO still hurt us. It just takes more. Sometimes it requires a situation to impinge upon you personally. Sometimes it's just got to be bad. Maybe maturity is, partially, the ability to tell real crises from small potatoes. Maturity is better judgement. Sure, if you want to be kind about it.
So, in conclusion (finally, Mooncalf), yes, I AM mature. Yes, maturity IS complacency, at least, to a certain extent. Therefore, I AM complacent. Or, perhaps, instead of being complacent, I've developed better judgement. If I want to be kind about it.
Who the hell knows? I don't. So, my final conclusion is this: fuck maturity. As long as you are a functioning human being, you are exactly as mature as you need to be, and enough of this philosophical crap. Maturity, complacency, judgement, trust, age, outrage... fuck 'em ALL.
I want an ice-cream cone with sprinkles. Who's coming with me?
Replies: add your comment: currently 5 comments
Oooh! Ice cream! Count me in ^_^.
Posted by Nathan @ 07/30/2001 05:23 AM EST
Cool conclusion. Makes ya think...or at least ME. Heh. I guess you're pretty much right, Moon, on about everything. Am I Mooncalf Mature? Hmmm...I denno. Maybe...*not quite*. ^_' But I think my level is *usually* pretty high. Depends on my mood! I always like to say I'm "Old Enough to Know Better, But Too Young to Care"!! ^_' LOL Fluctuates with my mood! Boo-Yaah!!
I usually don't feel like saying "f**k maturity" myself; maybe sometimes I take things too seriously or something(I blame it a lot on being in high school, where people REVELED in their own stupidity and complete lack of maturity to the point that I almost went mad, and went on a rampage). I'm usually pretty left-brained about things. I consider myself pretty mature. I think you can have asense of good humor and overall be a whacky person and still be mature to a great degree.
But, like most people...I do enjoy often quite low-brow humor, that, well....defines a lack of maturity! lol
Eech....Too early in the day for ice cream for me! Buuut, save some for me later. ^_'
Posted by Wolf @ 07/30/2001 02:18 PM EST
Mmm...sprinkles...
Posted by Darkmoon the Mad @ 07/30/2001 10:29 PM EST
dude, that's why everyone likes you. You're so like, coolheaded and mature. ^^;
Posted by Vera @ 07/31/2001 03:10 AM EST
I don't know about "maturity," as a concept. I mean, I know far too many Ivy League caliber graduates who "matured" to become completely immersed in Investment Banking, the ultimate soulless profession where you work 100 hours a week. It's a shitty world, but somehow, I find it incredibly sad that so many people I know have lost their enthusiasm for life. It's not fun anymore. It's not envigorating, they don't get out, they don't exercise, they've taken complacency and replaced it with a nice healthy case of "I don't wanna do SHITE."
Of course, the happy medium is when you have an individual who runs around with the rampant mad energy of a six-year-old while not letting anything EVER get to him. Meet my best friend John Kang, who has the worst case of "just don't give a fuck" that I've ever seen - the guy will do anything and not give a second thought to what people think. He's just that cool. Went to West Point Military Academy even though he's never hurt a soul before - but I guess the world is different when you're a tank commander.
So maturity isn't ALL complacency... you can't really give up on life, can you?
Posted by Soowhan @ 07/31/2001 06:30 AM EST
