Living on your own. The freedom. The independence. You can do whatever you want when you want it and your parents can’t tell you no. It sounds great but reality has a way of slapping you in the face.
Generally, when people are asked what they want to be when they grow up, they don’t answer by saying they want to go off the grid. In fact, whenever I mention this, I get the sympathy pat on my head and the, “Oh sure honey; dream big.”
But this is me looking back at puberty now. However, when young, uneducated, Abi Lingam was romping around the world there was nothing she was more excited for than puberty.
When I was younger I had dreams, a little too ambitious of dreams but they were desires nonetheless. I planned my future on out-of-reach wishes about who I would marry when I was older. In retrospect, it’s a little zealous to believe that 8-year-old Maddy could actually date a celebrity like Zac Efron, but I convinced myself that I too, was famous.
A lot of kids dream about being a superhero. Having some kind of special ability or suit you can jump into and fly away. This was my dream when I was younger, and it still is today. However, when you look at the basics of having superpowers, you start to realize how unrealistic they really are.
Before the era of apps and Instagram, kids’ time was spent outdoors, frolicking in the grass and dirty backyards. The worlds we imagined in our minds became reality for days at a time.
Whenever anyone mentions the name ‘Prince Charming’, an image of a tall, muscular guy with perfect hair, teeth, and eyes that can knock your socks off comes to mind. Unfortunately, that image of the amazing man sweeping us off our feet —literally— while battling a dragon at the same time usually ends up not being realistic. At least, it definitely wasn’t for me.
