Apr 29th, 2022 Cloudy Friday
“Adulting” is such an interesting word. Oxford dictionary defines it as “the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks”. This definition depicts the image of an adult as one who always does the right thing, even when, or particularly when the right thing to do is absolutely boring and hard to enjoy.
Honestly, I feel that adulting does not need to be as negative as the above definition suggests. Many of tasks required of an adult can be fun, but the fun part is not as obvious, and you may have to find the fun and the meaning yourself. Working is a good example – many aspects of a job, no matter what job it is, seem mundane and unexciting, but the impact your work creates, and the collegial relations that you build through work (assuming there are some friendly people at your work place), could add colors to your otherwise gray daily life.
Still, even with interesting and impactful work as well as nice co-workers to chat with, there may be times that my ration of adulting has been used up, and I just want to pause adulting for a while.
A somewhat controversial concept in psychology, “ego depletion”, might explain my feelings. Still having a child’s heart inside me, when I am “adulting”, it is like a performance that requires willpower and self-control. A performance, however acting in character it may be, is draining (ask any performer). As an adult, unlike children who can go play once they finish school for the day, the “adulting” does not stop when one goes back home from work, because there are still many chores to be finished at home – cooking, house cleaning, feeding my kitty, and the list can go on and on. Since I am the kind who cannot truly unplug myself until all the things are well taken care of, it is often not until bedtime that I could take a breath and be ready to drift into dreamland.
Don’t get me wrong – I love the life I have chosen and I would not trade it with anyone else (at least not anyone I know 😛 ). It is just that, sometimes, just for a little while, I hope to pause “adulting” – I know the tasks are never going away, that my to-do lists will be waiting for me faithfully the next day, that there are new challenges to find creative solutions for, and I am TRULY excited to work on the tasks, lists, and challenges, but just for a short while, maybe an hour, maybe an evening, maybe a few days, I long to have some time to myself and ONLY do things for fun, even if they are silly and/or frivolous.
What do I do during the “me time”? Actually nothing crazy (I am not going to do things that will create more trouble to clean up afterwards, thus making my list even longer ?), just indulging myself – watching silly anime, listening to music, goofing around with my kitty/husband, or appreciating the nature and the environment without doing anything (i.e. daydreaming).
It is these moments that help to recharge me and allow me to start the next leg of journey, refreshed and reinvigorated.
With the recent weather, the display of spring flowers has been delayed. Nevertheless, the cute puschkinias we planted in our front yard, along the pathway leading to the door, have received the early signals of spring. They braved the cold and dreary days, sending out tiny blue buds to mark the start of the season.
Let me take a moment to admire their beauty. It may only be a few minutes, but they deserve it. So do I.