I love when I read something I didnāt really know I needed to hear. Itās a nice reassurance to hear someone flat out say that maturity does not have to mean you arenāt still fun-loving. That itās not childish to seek out whimsical and silly things even as an adult.
I had a student write me a note at the end of a semester to thank me for showing that you donāt have to give up the things you love to become a grown-up, since Iām a teacher but still love geek things and cosplay at cons. I assured her that as long as you attend to your responsibilities, whatever you do in your spare time is up to you.
Itās kind of funny, lately Iāve been feeling more kinship to people younger than me (in their teens and twenties) because it feels like most of the 30-somethings I know are all caught up in their jobs or parenting and are trying to Be Grown-ups. Iāve found a few others who still like to goof around in their limited free time and have fun, but itās harder to find people who are free to just geek out with and not have them stressed out all the time and trying to be serious and set aside these āchildish thingsā. Whoever I end up with will have to be able to balance maturity and fun too or weāre going to probably have some arguments about priorities