Is it just inevitable that we grow up? 

Or is it a label that we have collectively agreed upon?

Or are people just so eager to run into the future they forget the past?

 

But I did not want to grow up. 

 

Much like Peter Pan, I thought that I could be a kid forever.

Never grow up, stay young forever.

Perfectly content, I was satisfied with my dolls and stuffed toys.

Using them as a shield, I was happy to ignore the changing signs and the growing people.

 

But they wanted to grow up.

 

First, my “best friend” who never regarded me as one casted me aside,

Seeking popularity and adorning adult-like clothes and makeup.

Incorporating curse words and social media as a way to show the world exactly how grown up they were.

The other kids seemed to understand and quickly followed suit.

 

But I could not- No. I did not want to understand.

 

Stunned, I just stayed back and never tried to catch on.

Furrious, I was determined to prove them wrong.

Dejected, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. 

Crestfallen, I realized that I was the ignorant one.

 

But I could still change.

 

And so I did.

Or rather, I simply stopped ignoring the fact that I was growing up.

And I have grown up but I haven’t changed what I wear, what I like, what I look like.

I’m in no hurry to show the world through facades of exactly how “grown up” I look.

 

But I am in a hurry to show that even when the people around you abandon you, 

You can continue to hold onto your “childish” ways whilst learning and growing.

Growing up doesn’t mean I have to look grown up but rather, 

Growing up reflects how I have changed and understood the world and myself better.

And I am not bitter nor left behind.

I have simply opened my eyes to a larger world.