A living document of archived dreams
Revisit your own or read others; we're all growing at the same time.
What does it mean to grow up? Where do you want to be when you grow up? This can be a simple response, a letter to your future self, a story about yourself in the future, anything you want. Be as specific as you want (for example, what year would this be in or how old would you be), there is no length limit. Write as much or as little as you want, so you can look back at it one day.
Aisha, Age 10 - Growing up means learning more about life and having the ability to do anything. When I grow up, I want to be a famous actress/singer. I’ll have my movie premiering all over the world, yet a week before it premiers I go on a world tour singing everywhere! (I wish to at least learn a couple of words from each language so I can speak to my fans!) I’ll be rich and famous and will live in Aisha Acres, a private neighbourhood of mansions for all my family and close friends.
Iman, Age 16 - To grow up means to change and become ready for the adult world. Leaving old childhood actions and habits behind and changing them into something valuable. I believe you have grown up once you realise that you've reached the point where you can look back at the memories of childhood with happiness and content that you are finally an adult. Although people associate growing up with leaving childhood, I believe it's something more and I hope that by 2030 I can class myself as an adult who has made a life for myself anywhere in the world, whether that's in Milton Keynes, London or even Vancouver. As long as I have family beside me, which I class as the most important part of life.
Noor, Age 14 - Growing up isn't an obvious thing. It's subtle. It's when you start to feel more, and when you start to feel less. Growing up is re-watching that movie and realizing it's not the best thing ever made, and listening to that song and realising it actually sounds awful. Growing up is change, growing up is beautiful. When I grow up I want to be happy. I want to be spontaneous and interesting. I want to learn more and I want to have fun. I don't know where I want to be or what job I want. I just want to be a happy person.
Aisha, Age 22 - Growing up means appreciating the value of all the relationships you make in your life. It is learning more about everything and trying to navigate the ability to do anything. When I grow up, even more, I want to be happy with my life. I don’t want to be rich and famous, although having a good amount of upper-middle-class money would be nice. I want to be surrounded by people I love and who love me back, I’d like a nice house one day so I can invite my friends and family over for dinner. I want to get better at cooking so I can host people. I hope I stay curious and imaginative as I grow older, and to keep having as much fun as I can.
Jammi, Age 22 - Growing up is realizing the world from a new perspective. Everything is still the same as it was, the only thing that has changed is myself. I will never see the world the same way I did before. Of course, we all may experience happiness. But even though we may have been hurt by people you would never think would treat you this way, it's not all bad. At the end of the day, we’ve come out of it and become stronger. Everyone learns and that’s when we know we’ve grown. As we grow up, no matter which position you are at, don’t forget to be kind to yourself, because that 3-year-old you always lives inside you.
Eva, Age 22 - It's difficult to define growing up with a clear statement. The day I legally became an adult merely marked the law's recognition of my maturity, but it seems that isn't the true essence of growing up. Growth is a process of constantly tearing apart and reassembling oneself. As a child, I had various dreams for my future, envisioning countless paths of growth before me. It seems I'm always chasing after something, always urging myself to grow up faster, to become an adult in some sense. Of course there are some difficulties during the growth. What sustains me as I move forward is a place in my heart that has yet to fully mature, filled with love and small aspirations for the world around me—the sunrise on the beach, the golden gingko leaves, the uniquely shaped pebbles.
Bernice, Age 22 - I think it's interesting that most people will think that someone else is more grown up than them. Like a 10 year old might think I'm grown up, and I might think that a 35 yr old is more grown up than I am. I think growing up is a constant event. It's to learn from all your past experiences, to evolve, to be better than you were a day or a couple years ago. I hope future me is in a good place. I hope she's more sure of herself, has created more art she's proud of, is overall happy, and hopefully feels grown :))
TJ, Age 20 - As happy and as proud of myself as I am now :)
Matthew, Age 44 - Wisdom and independence, gained through mistakes, grow up as soon as possible
David, Age 33 - I don't know, but I think that's ok, hopefully im right. When I was a kid I thought I was super mature for my age and an excellent candidate to grow up. As a teenager, I started to fear the concept but ignored it. In my twenties, I checked all the boxes of a grown up but hated the assumption. Now I'm just waiting for the click or maybe I missed it or maybe it happened and I didn't notice. It's ok, I'm happy
Hakeem, Age 27 - Growing up / growth is not a black and white thing. We should always be growing in all aspects of life. If I ever look back on this, I hope that I have grown my relationships, my habits, my career, and my knowledge to be in a better place than they are at now. Fixed mindset (growing up) vs growth mindset (always growing).
Sarah, Age 25 - When I grow up, I hope to have a big happy family, surrounded by many people who I love and who love me.
Lauren, Age 22 - For a while, I felt like growing up was about becoming more independent, pulling in the edges of myself and making them tidy, making the boundary between my insides and outsides more defined, learning to take care of myself and keep things to myself, needing less, etc. I am still building a sense of self and learning to do more stuff on my own, but over the last year or so, growing up has also become a process of breaking back open and getting soft and permeable and making lots of mistakes and embracing interdependence and feeling a lot. i feel less like a building being constructed and more like an egg cracking open. Also important: developing good relationships with my past and future selves, even/especially if they embarrass me or will be embarrassed by me.