The Problem With "Adulting".

Philip Glickman

One of my friends posted a goofy video of herself messing about in the form of dancing. She was obviously having a really good time, and then she added this to the post: “When will I start acting my age?”.

In my oversabi way, I responded with “But age is who? Who decides how people should act? We adults overburden ourselves, and it’s from caring about what people think. My friend, never grow old, abeg”

Concidentally, I had just finished reading The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (I think it’s quickly climbed up the ranks as one of my favourite books) a children’s book with philosophical reflection on the flaws of adulthood, materialism, and the importance of seeing the world with the heart rather than just the eyes. The themes were on the value of imagination, the beauty of deep relationships, and the idea that “what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

My friends reinforced the “problem” with adulthood.

I highlighted almost the entire book, which shows how much I enjoyed it. I’m sharing some of my highlights.

“I was six years old when I spotted a magnificent picture in a book about an ancient forest. The picture showed a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing a wild beast. This is what it looked like:

It said in the book: ‘A boa constrictor swallows its prey whole, without chewing it. After this, it is unable to move and sleeps through the next six months – this is needed for digestion.’

I thought deeply about the experiences of the forest. Then, with care and a coloured pencil, I succeeded in making my first drawing. Drawing Number One looked like this:

I showed my fine work to the grown-ups and asked if the drawing scared them. ‘Scared? Why, it is only a hat!’

But it was not a hat! It was very clearly a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But the grown-ups need explanations for everything. So, I made another drawing showing the elephant inside the boa constrictor. Drawing Number Two looked like this:

This time, the grown-ups advised me to put away my representations of the boa constrictor, be it from the inside or the outside, and instead spend my time learning geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why, at six years of age, I gave up a promising career as an artist, disappointed by the failure of Drawing Number One and Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups find it hard to understand anything on their own, and it is tiring for children to always have to explain things to them.

Hence, I chose a different occupation and learned to fly airplanes. I flew all over the world and found that geography was very useful to me. I can easily distinguish China from Arizona, and such knowledge is important if you get lost in the dark.

Through the years, I have encountered many people of importance and spent a great deal of time among grown-ups. However, knowing them closely hasn’t much improved my opinion of them. Whenever I felt I met someone sensible, I experimented by showing him or her my Drawing Number One, which I always carried with me. But, no matter who it was, the answer would always be, ‘It is a hat.’

There would end any talk about boa constrictors, or ancient forests, or the stars. I would lower myself to their level and prattle about bridges, and golf, politics “and neckties. Oh, how it pleased the grown-ups to have met such a logical man.”

There you have it, “kids”! Never grow up.

Keep going,

Ije

P.S: Please read The Little Prince. It’s a really small book that you can get through in a few hours, but it’s chock-full of wisdom. About focusing on the most important things and not being jaded by the “joys” of being an adult.