Adulthood

Somewhere between there and here it seems, I've grown up. I'm an adult.

When did this happen? How did this happen?

Here is a bulleted list of evidence to support my hypothesis that I am now an official grown-up adult person. (But never a "grown-up!" Grown-ups are those boring people who've forgotten the joy of life's simple things and who cannot tell a hat from the inside of a boa constrictor.)

• I can communicate comfortably on a deeper-than-surface level with other people my own age.
• I am responsible for my own finances. I earn my own money and I keep a careful budget and pay attention to where that money goes.
• I live about 1000 miles from my parents and the place of my birth and although I still love my parents I am perfectly alright with living far away.
• People around me seem to view me as responsible and trust me with things...like their children.
• I feel fairly comfortable and relatively confident driving in Spokane a city that has traffic and even a freeway.
• I see other people value my thoughts and ideas and therefore I value them myself, enough so that I share them with you and the people around me.
• I am no longer mortified at the thought of going shopping. (Although I am still concientious about reflecting my ideals and values in the way I spend my money.) I may even begin developing a very latent fashion sense.
• I've been utterly alone and relied on myself and I know that I can do that again if I need to.
• I had my hair cut and styled today (for the second time) by Carrie at Bella Designs Hair Salon, downtown. It didn't terrify me to let her try something a little different and make my hair "flicky." And it didn't bother me to pay what I paid for that haircut because I know she is a trained professional and because I know that strangers reactions to me are subtly influenced by my appearance. In other words, I now have a hairstylist!!!
• I just purchased my very first laptop!
• I am beginning to see my mother as a friend and I hope that is mutual.
• I am dating a man who is well-educated and intelligent and works in an office downtown. I met up with him for lunch one day. (But I'm pretty sure Jon would recognize an elephant inside of a boa costrictor.)

So, there lies the evidence. I keep myself fed and clothed, and clean and dry. I do my laundry and clean my room on occasion. And I try to keep an eye out to help those around me as well. Somehow, on this perilous journey called life, I've reached the next level. I made it. I am an adult.