a beautiful, brutal trap

 There is a distinct, quiet shift that happens the moment you blow out twenty-one candles. It’s a realisation that there is officially no escape, the safety net of ‘I am just a kid’ vanishes, and suddenly you caught entirely in the circle of growing up.

There is no going back.

It’s an ironic milestone isn’t it? We spend our entire childhood sprinting towards adulthood, only to reach it and realise we have inherited a mountain of things, we never actually asked for.

Lately, life has been throwing a lot at me. Turning 21 came with a sudden rush of responsibilities. Some amusingly mundane, others deeply depressing. Adulthood isn’t a single open door. It’s a series of heavy gates. You have to learn to push open yourself. You start navigating the complex realities of life. You become a person that people out there actually rely on, the one who has to make the hard decisions and face the emotional shifts within a family. Someday it feels disgustingly empowering, other day it feels entirely overwhelming. You forced to grow up, ready or not.

But if there is one saving grace in this chaotic circle of adulting? It’s the people walking through it with me. Through everything and thin, through every high and devastating low, I look around and realise I’m still surrounded by the exact same group of friend I had back in my school days. In a world where everything is shifting beneath my feet, they are my constant.                                                                    Low-key, I am incredibly grateful for them. They knew me before the responsibilities kicked in, back when our biggest worry was a school deadline, and they still know the truest version of me now.

Growing up is a bittersweet pill to swallow it takes. It takes away your innocence, but it gives you death. It brings heavy, but it also shows you who is willing to stand in the rain with you.

 To anyone else caught in the circle: it’s okay to find it heavy man. It’s okay to miss the simplicity of yesterday. 

But honestly, as long as I’ve got my favourite people and a decent sense of humor, I think we’ll survive this whole ‘being an adult’ thing just fine. Or at least, we’ll crash and burn together.🍥

Comments

  1. Eva3 June 2026 at 07:21

    This is exactly the kind of thing i needed to read today.Growing up has a funny way of making you feel both powerful and completely unprepared at the same time. But i love what you said about the people who stay. They really do make the whole process a little less scary.

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