From Rich to Richer
What triggers young adults and even teenagers feel the urge to leave the pampered home nest in exchange for a scoop of independence?
Perhaps they feel, at the age of eighteen, that they no longer require cyber-nappies appended to their mouths and minds to censor what they are exposed to. It can be daunting for many elders to brace the coming generations beyond their own, rapidly rehashing the perilous fads and trends similar to their own day.
By the same token, however, parents may simply have the best of intentions from defending their clearly ‘unready’ children from the horrors of the workaday world and the flooded mailbox of bills from public utilites. Not to mention laundry, emotional issues and housing quarrels with the upstairs stay-at-home geriatrics.
Many parents would argue that popular culture is the biggest culprit, leading young people to believe that leaving their parents behind is the newest “hip” thing and renting for yourself is the most liberating thing you can do.
Ultimately, while parents have the best of intentions in mind for their children (and a stern hand to guide them from foolish decisions), moving away from home can also be a deeply cathartic experience that challenges pre-existing conceptions about the world and one’s meaning within themselves. It could just be the plea of a young person, yearning to move from the materially rich to spiritually richer.
A modern epidemic is arising where children are leaving home at earlier ages to being the path to independence. Clearing through the obvious stigmata attached to such a concept, a gleam of hope still shines through: ‘helicopter children’, those who live apart and continue to recieve homely benefits, is a profoundly reinforcing way of easing into deeper waters.
I had an enlightening conversation earlier this month with a friend (more like, second-mother) about being prepared for leaving home. Rather than tackling the mundane details of cooking and laundering, I was told that if I could fulfill a certain critera - completely honestly - then I was ready to leave.
First, I was asked whether or not I was prepared - whether I had amassed the material (financial and furnishing) means with which to found a home. While this was a simple nod-and-smile answer, the second question was much more confronting.
‘Do you feel ready?’ with a widening grin, eyes firmly affixed upon my trembling hands. Detecting the subtle nuance of this question, I asked for clarification. ‘Well, are you ready?’ the question was repeated. It became suddenly clear to me what I was missing.
A great quote rings in my mind from time to time and has henceforth prevented me from superciliousness and shielded me from a sense of self-righteousness: “Uneasy lies the head that bears a crown.
Like all ambitious young politicians in their final year of study, it is inevitable to consider how deep the waters of involvement have become. And by this same idea, I would urge the home-leaver to fulfill the critera of their parent - who cares for but does not own their kin - for what is percieved as micromanagement is merely a final signpost of confidence.
Draw your own criteria to fulfill for the new endeavours of your life and you will surely come to terms with the greater certainty that accompanies the more successful and confident people among us.
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