Caught in the middle

It seems like we’re in the worst place to be, chronologically speaking. We are no longer children and have lost that innocence that could make a table be a secret cave, a lego kit the entry to a new world and where anything could be what you wanted it to be. We no longer consider kissing a girl as “icky” or laugh when we hear words like “nipple” (well, some of us do), and, in many occasions, we crave returning to those days. In my opinion, we have gained nothing in exchange for so large a loss. Sure, we have gained futile rights such as extended curfews, being taken more seriously or going to discos....but, was it really worth it? Sure, call me Peter Pan, but, up to date, I haven’t seen many benefits from growing up. The time for “boys catch girls” has passed (or strangely developed) and, in return, we got a realistic painting of the world where Santa Claus is really your parents struggling to buy presents worrying about the amount of money they spend, where you can no longer spend your days playing. Sure, we all need to know what responsibilities are and how to handle them, but, I think, that spark that made our eyes light up when we saw the Christmas tree should never die, and should not be killed by the impact of realism. It’s as if we were running blidfonded through a garden, and when the bandage was removed, the countryside was not what we expected. Basically it’s a “Here it is, take it or go” but it’s not in the least what we thought it would be like, well, at least not for all of us. Emotionally it means realising that the people you love are not perfect, and not what you thought they were, or maybe yes, but it means knowing, and precisely because of that, the innocence is killed, once you are no longer an ignorant, you are not innocent. Facing reality means “chin up and push forward” and looking around you and wanting to go back to the days where problems only existed in your nightmares. In a way, it means taking control of your life, unlike before, when everything was set and done for you...and, in the same way you struggle when you firt ride your bicycle without training wheels, in our current situation we are struggling. We discover feelings we never thought would come and situations which were previously inimaginable. All this means we are now responsible for writing our own destiny, since now it’s our call, every day that passes we are more independent, and it is up to us to bring happiness or tears to our life. Even though we are getting closer to the day when we will be on our own and completely independent, that spark in our eyes still is present (it still shows when we see babies or romantic movies), but even so, that flame is more and more of a nostalgia for a lost time than what it used to be.