I had three streams of thought flowing in my mind about what the next blog post would be, and all came together in this post.
What do you think about when you hear the terms "mature" or "adult".. if you are like me, growing up those terms meant that you could do things like drink or see porn or curse words or more. That is, after all, how we rate movies and music and more. It is MATURE or ADULT to be able to do those things. The motivation was that we wanted to protect INNOCENT young eyes and minds from .. I'm not sure exactly from what, exactly.. life? However, all that would do is result in those minds being unprepared for facing it and making educated choices.
However, that is just how A** backwards our society often is. We say that the most acceptable advice and media to be seen or discussed is that conversation that contains the least actual useful information. That is one of the reason I am DOING this blog and this series. Certain things needed to be said that will NOT be said in schools, churches, or government censored media. No.. in that media, we are making the recipients less and less prepared for society. It reminds me of a movie that I have quoted literally dozens of times over the years, Demolition Man. The movie is about a future society where everything is regulated and silenced and individuality and .. even sexual maturity.. is deemed evil a nd penalized. There has been many other movies that have spoke on this theme, but in this movie the speech of rebel leader Friendly is worth repeating...
"I'm the enemy. Cause I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind if guy who wants to sit in a greasy spoon and think, 'Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?' I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, butter and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jello all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to. Okay, pal? I've seen the future, you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sittin' around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake singing "I'm an Oscar-Meyer Wiener". You wanna live on top, you gotta live Cocteau's way. What he wants, when he wants, how he wants. Your other choice: come down here, maybe starve to death."
This dichotomy is much older than just that movie, and it reaches celestial levels. However, the question is generally the same. Do you choose to think for yourself, or do you live content to let others think for you and take you to places you do not want to go. If you do choose to follow others, like a 1st grader following a teacher, you will have less conflict and more peer acceptance to be sure. But, HOPEFULLY, at some point in your life, you will actually GROW UP. When you do, you can join the older class that is known for being cynical and outspoken and who will choose to smoke til they are 90 and always speak their mind and do what they want, but to get there you will lose a little innocence, value peer acceptance a little less, and be willing to decide for yourself what will make you happy.
If you do, I will wish you well in your journey in discovering your happiness and yourself. In the end, maturity only grows in one direction, and it's NOT to become an innocent 1st grader, again.
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