Frankly, I simply think that it means developing as a person in some profound way. That sounds vague, but it really depends on the person and is very dialectical. There are always contradictions and conflicts in a person and it takes maturity to resolve some of them. It requires someone to look at themselves deeply and deliberately improve themselves in some way, which is usually not easy. Each person will have a different struggle. That can be, for example, developing political consciousness, it could mean just becoming more empathetic, or someone that overcomes trauma. It could mean anything. I don’t, however, mean someone no longer having the same hobbies as they had as a child. This is a naïve critique of a person that has no bearing upon their personal development, in my opinion. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with how a person spends their time, but with how a person chooses to live their life and deciding the person they want to become. Someone developing some meaning to their lives that allows them to continue in existence beyond whatever childish ideas they initially had. That, to me, is someone ‘growing up’. To put it more succinctly: the dialectically qualitative transition from childhood to adulthood in a person.
I have a best friend that regularly likes to say other people we know “haven’t grown up” because, for example, they still play video games or watch anime or haven’t bought a home or don’t have a career. I also know he says this about me when I’m not around. Anyway, he owns some properties, has a pretty normal career, in a miserable relationship with a woman who rightfully doesn’t trust him and is with him for his possessions. I could talk a lot of shit about him here, and I did, but I deleted it because it’s besides the point. But the thing is that since he was a kid he was always a kind of money-hungry, ready to exploit anything, selfish, self-aggrandizing person. Despite external appearances, I do think he’s honestly the least ‘grown up’ person I know because he hasn’t developed in any way emotionally. He’s really just like how he was when we were 14. I love him despite it but, even though he’s ‘accomplished’ more than most have in our generation, he remains a child. I hope he has some major mid-life crisis because that would be an opportunity for growth but I kinda doubt it. I say this because that kind of external appearance truly has nothing to do with growing up.
Frankly, I simply think that it means developing as a person in some profound way. That sounds vague, but it really depends on the person and is very dialectical. There are always contradictions and conflicts in a person and it takes maturity to resolve some of them. It requires someone to look at themselves deeply and deliberately improve themselves in some way, which is usually not easy. Each person will have a different struggle. That can be, for example, developing political consciousness, it could mean just becoming more empathetic, or someone that overcomes trauma. It could mean anything. I don’t, however, mean someone no longer having the same hobbies as they had as a child. This is a naïve critique of a person that has no bearing upon their personal development, in my opinion. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with how a person spends their time, but with how a person chooses to live their life and deciding the person they want to become. Someone developing some meaning to their lives that allows them to continue in existence beyond whatever childish ideas they initially had. That, to me, is someone ‘growing up’. To put it more succinctly: the dialectically qualitative transition from childhood to adulthood in a person.
I have a best friend that regularly likes to say other people we know “haven’t grown up” because, for example, they still play video games or watch anime or haven’t bought a home or don’t have a career. I also know he says this about me when I’m not around. Anyway, he owns some properties, has a pretty normal career, in a miserable relationship with a woman who rightfully doesn’t trust him and is with him for his possessions. I could talk a lot of shit about him here, and I did, but I deleted it because it’s besides the point. But the thing is that since he was a kid he was always a kind of money-hungry, ready to exploit anything, selfish, self-aggrandizing person. Despite external appearances, I do think he’s honestly the least ‘grown up’ person I know because he hasn’t developed in any way emotionally. He’s really just like how he was when we were 14. I love him despite it but, even though he’s ‘accomplished’ more than most have in our generation, he remains a child. I hope he has some major mid-life crisis because that would be an opportunity for growth but I kinda doubt it. I say this because that kind of external appearance truly has nothing to do with growing up.