When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

Ugh, that’s a tough question.

This morning, I unexpectedly happened to watch a reel on Instagram, an excerpt from an interview that Kiki Dimoula gave. Kiki Dimoula is a very well-known poetess in Greece.

Here’s the translation:

Kiki Dimoula:    I am a bit angry, as you may gather.

Interviewer:      With whom?

Kiki Dimoula:    With myself, of course. Because I must have matured.

I shouldn’t wonder about anything.

Interviewer:      Is that what maturing means?

Kiki Dimoula:    Yes, indeed. Maturing means you don’t wonder about anything.

We can agree that maturity is a matching synonym for grown-up.

Have I ever felt grown up? To tell the truth. NO! As Kiki Dimoula, I still wonder about many things in life; with the difference, I am not angry with myself but curious about many things and people that cross my path. I believe I still have much to learn. Therefore, I don’t feel grown up.

I heard different stories from other people about when they finally felt they had grown up; some say when they had become parents, and others when both their parents died. The last one is, for me, very reasonable because as long as your parents are alive, you are their child, and they will care about you no matter how old you are or how grown-up you feel; and when you finally lose both, you stop being a child.

But generally speaking, I think it’s hard to define when someone has finally grown up since we humans are beings with complex characters.

Due to that, I mentioned Kiki Dimoula. Here’s a poem from her.