Identity - it's what's for dinner
This past Sunday, my step-mom called me a goth.
I was shocked.
And I had to stifle laughter.
Um, have you seen me?
But, you see, I dyed my hair black a month ago. And on Sunday, I was wearing my We Are The Black Parade t-shirt, along with a belt from Hot Topic that said REVENGE across the back of it with a granade on the front.
And that, my friends, in my step-mom's eyes, made me a goth.
It got me thinking about identity, how the world sees me and how I see myself.
Here's the thing - I'm 30 years old. But when people find out my age they are surprised. They don't think I'm past my early 20's. I don't look 30, and I don't act 30. But how exactly should a 30 year old look and act? Am I now to go shopping in the "mature" section of Sears instead of the aisles of Hot Topic and PacSun? Am I supposed to sit down to Josh Grobin instead of moshing at the barrier to My Chemical Romance? Should I concern myself with mortgage rates and investment portfolios instead of road trips? Should I buy Estee Lauder instead of Urban Decay?
My answer? NO. It's all about identity. I think people get old because they allow themselves to. They lose their sense of self and buy into what the mass media says they should be. Teenagers buy into how they should act, and "older" people are no different.
I take a look around at people my age, and they act so...OLD. Like they've already died in their hearts and they're just waiting for their bodies to catch up. But I don't want to be that way. I'm too full of spirit and angst and rage against the machine. My identity? I'm a punk rock kid. And when I say kid, I mean kid. I'm not ready to settle into a life of white picket fences and garden parties with the Joneses. I don't want to wear power suits and turn my nose up to tattoos and piercings. I'm too young to give up on everything I am meant to go after. Just because someone tells me I should.
So, I will continue to dye my hair black, and shop at Hot Topic, and wear black nail polish, and blow my money on concert tickets and road trips. I will continue to wear my black Chuck Taylors and listen to My Chemical Romance and read HeyChris' rants. I'm not ready to grow up, especially when the grown ups around me make it look like a living death. I'm too young for that. We're all too young to just let that fire in us die.
30 is the new 20.
I was shocked.
And I had to stifle laughter.
Um, have you seen me?
But, you see, I dyed my hair black a month ago. And on Sunday, I was wearing my We Are The Black Parade t-shirt, along with a belt from Hot Topic that said REVENGE across the back of it with a granade on the front.
And that, my friends, in my step-mom's eyes, made me a goth.
It got me thinking about identity, how the world sees me and how I see myself.
Here's the thing - I'm 30 years old. But when people find out my age they are surprised. They don't think I'm past my early 20's. I don't look 30, and I don't act 30. But how exactly should a 30 year old look and act? Am I now to go shopping in the "mature" section of Sears instead of the aisles of Hot Topic and PacSun? Am I supposed to sit down to Josh Grobin instead of moshing at the barrier to My Chemical Romance? Should I concern myself with mortgage rates and investment portfolios instead of road trips? Should I buy Estee Lauder instead of Urban Decay?
My answer? NO. It's all about identity. I think people get old because they allow themselves to. They lose their sense of self and buy into what the mass media says they should be. Teenagers buy into how they should act, and "older" people are no different.
I take a look around at people my age, and they act so...OLD. Like they've already died in their hearts and they're just waiting for their bodies to catch up. But I don't want to be that way. I'm too full of spirit and angst and rage against the machine. My identity? I'm a punk rock kid. And when I say kid, I mean kid. I'm not ready to settle into a life of white picket fences and garden parties with the Joneses. I don't want to wear power suits and turn my nose up to tattoos and piercings. I'm too young to give up on everything I am meant to go after. Just because someone tells me I should.
So, I will continue to dye my hair black, and shop at Hot Topic, and wear black nail polish, and blow my money on concert tickets and road trips. I will continue to wear my black Chuck Taylors and listen to My Chemical Romance and read HeyChris' rants. I'm not ready to grow up, especially when the grown ups around me make it look like a living death. I'm too young for that. We're all too young to just let that fire in us die.
30 is the new 20.