Youth. (Ugh)

December 30, 2012

Screenshot of me from a recent video looking young-ish, I suppose?
Screenshot of me from a recent video looking young-ish, I suppose?

I said rants were coming. Here’s one.

(Not in the mood for a rant? Come back tomorrow for something fun and inspirational.)

I’m still “young” in the eyes of Obamacare, DoSomething.org, and many other arbitrary measures of youth.

I’m not inherently special because I’m “young”! Though, many people (and companies) would have you think that.

(Heads up – I’m accepting my hypocrite-ness. Sometimes people are nicer ’cause I’m young girl (looks up with big doe eyes). I don’t turn away help when people are quicker to save me from dogs, or offer me a ride home after a marathon. I’m not always above applying to things with age limits.

I don’t like that society’s ideal is youth, but I’ll admit to not turning away all the benefits of it… (I don’t have to love everything about society, but I do have to live in it, and find the line for me of what’s okay.))

There is no definitive “young” and “old.” We’re all old to someone. We’re all young to someone else. And, we all feel and wear our ages differently.

I’ve mentioned youth before on this blog (kind of a lot). (This is one subject that really gets me all in a tumble. I actually hate talking about age, yet I keep talking about it! I can’t let it go. (Unhealthy human being, right here.))

Someday, I will be older. People might write off my opinions, thinking I’m someone wishing I was younger. While I’m still in the “power position” ((rolls eyes) or whatever), let my feelings be known!

I feel that recently youth has been even more front and center than usual, which prompted this ranting post.

(Want to see a funny (but somewhat not) video about society’s weirdness on youth? Here’s a great Craig Ferguson monologue.)

Not only is insanely talented, but looks amazing. (Julia Louis-Dreyfus Photo credit: Guardian.co.uk)
Not only is insanely talented, but also looks amazing (and born in 1961).
(Julia Louis-Dreyfus Photo credit: Guardian.co.uk)

There are a bunch of websites, awards, lists, and things that celebrate people 25 and younger. Do you know what makes the (charity or otherwise) work of a 20-year-old better than the charity work of a 30-year-old?

Nothing.

Nothing.

Sigh.

Sometimes people think younger people are more special because they have their “whole lives ahead of them” or some kind of crazy stuff like that. Do you know how many young people make zero mistakes and really live that whole life ahead of them to the absolute fullest? Probably a very small number.

Do you know how many older people have the ability to make a change? Thousands upon thousands upon thousands. (Young people can too. That’s the point. Anyone can.)

I think Emma Stone said it best when she said, “Y’know when you think ‘I can’t do something because this or this or this.’ You can actually do anything you want. Like, I could go ballistic right now and tear this whole room apart. I could, but i’m not going to, because logic is stopping me. But you can do whatever you want. You really can veer off any path at any time.”

Kathryn Joosten was forty-five years old when she was in her first television show. Forty-five. She went on to have an illustrious career that spanned almost three decades. She also won two Primetime Emmys.

There are so many great examples of people who had a big break anywhere from thirty-years-old to way, way older than that, that I don’t need to give you a huge list. (But if you do want lists, Huffington Post, Cracked, and the blog Get Busy Living have compiled some you might find helpful. (And those only scratch the surface.))

young Michael JacksonIt’d certainly be easy to go in the other direction and get down on ourselves about the fact that Michael Jackson did more as a child than I might do in my entire life. But that’s counterproductive.

We’re all on different paths. I don’t think there is a real set timetable for when certain things have to be done. There can’t be. Life isn’t so beautifully linear. It takes crazy twists and turns.

And sure, when a young person does something amazing, let’s celebrate it – because it was an amazing thing. A human is a human, and the number of years she(or he)’s been alive doesn’t matter.

(You know we invented a system to keep time, right? A year is a year ’cause someone said it was so. We could just as easily keep time in mngjorns. (I made up that non-word, and it could be anything.))

I suppose my point is, we can’t keep people from judging us. But we can choose not to judge others. And we can choose to (in the words of the great Walt Disney -) keep moving forward.

I'd love to hear from you! So whaddya say?