Peeking Out of the Box by Hajra Salim

Peeking Out of the Box
by Hajra Salim

My journey has been very spontaneous and adventurous so far, but I want to explore something undiscovered, I want to travel along the queer horizons of my curiosities. In other words, I want to grow up and be rich. Mind you, it’s not the thirst of materialistic objects, I want to grow up spiritually and wish to be rich in words, knowledge and wisdom. Pondering upon my passed past, I realized ‘Woah! Time flies;’ I smiled upon the thought that as a 8 year old girl, for me growing up was ruling magnificent kingdoms, flying Pegasus’ and doing whatever I’d like to do with zero restrictions, while sprinkling pixie dust hither and thither. I mean, #GOALS! The real world is so monotone as comparison to my fantasy fairy land; no pixie dust, no Pegasus? *sigh*

From scribbling short fairy tales to speaking up on global ethics, I grew up somewhere in between. From being a morning person and feeling bored all the time to sleeping in late to re-read the Harry Potter series and not knowing what was it like to not feel tired, we grew up somewhere in between.

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Laughing on those Ferris wheels in the amusement parks and buying candy floss to ordering a Unicorn Frappuccino from Starbucks only to post it on Instagram, we grew up together somewhere in between. Never realized how time flew by, we grew up.

For me, growing up used to be equivalent to a dream coming true, but I guess it’s not all that glamor and glory. Responsibilities, decisions, practicality, sophistication etc. such things come hand in hand with growing up and I never thought about that as a kid. Growing up, is one major phase which opens many new doors leading to endless opportunities, allows a bit more freedom and helps polish the buried interests. It’s never only about gaining or discovering sometimes it gets a bit rough, it compels one to make life-changing decisions and abandoning the memories and fascinations of them younger days, so that they look dazzling in the past album.

It’s an ongoing process of nerve-wrecking moments and embracing the progress you’ve made so far. This process stays with one till the last breath, believe it or not. Growing up, is a name given to vast variety of an individual’s likes/dislikes, admitting and accepting. It’s forgiving and letting go, not forgetting; in my opinion.  Learning and spreading what we’ve learnt is what enhances the quality of maturity inside the naive mind of ours. It’s like losing your long cherished illusions, in order to find better ones.

Rather than seeing this phase as a limitation or a boundary to your fantasy world, it should be assumed as a golden age to making your world and the world of others a true fantasy wonderland. Make it better, embrace it, and cherish it, EXPERIENCE IT! Step up and have faith in yourself, you’ll make it through. Trust me! It’s like a sudden earthquake revolving around your life, you start over-thinking, over-doing. It’s alright. It’s different, unimaginably hectic and facing all of those raging mountains of workload and responsibilities all of a sudden looks like a deadly threat but it’s alright. We’re in this together! Let’s appreciate the time we have now, for this too shall pass.

After all, growing old is mandatory however growing up is optional.

Related Reading:

A Playlist for Growing Up by Alina Wilson

Growing Up by Brittani Dozier

My Hair: A Self Love Story by Geena Garcia

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