Being 19.

Like I mentioned in my last blog post, I turned nineteen a month and a bit ago. The verdict is still out, but right now my feelings on the age are of the 'meh' persuasion. Now, I've thought about why this is. I haven't written his impetuously. I thought long and hard about why I might feel this way. Here they are -

Reason #1: Just in terms of symbolism, there is none in the age of nineteen. Eighteen is the age of technical legality, alcohol, tattoos, and 'adulthood.' You can suddenly do everything by yourself, without any parent's permission. Twenty is the age of 'yay, I actually survived into adulthood. This probably wouldn't have happened two hundred, three hundred years ago.' And then, there's twenty-one. Twenty-one is the age of fully-fledged adulthood. Nineteen is nothing.

Reason #2: Eighteen was actually a really good year for me. I will admit that there's a chance that I'm thinking of 2013 in its entirety as my 18th year, when in fact I'd only turned eighteen in the August of it, but nonetheless. I'd made new friends, started at (a great) uni, figured out who exactly I was. It was great. I worry that with eighteen being so great, nineteen will only be a let down.

Reason #3: I was at uni all day on my birthday. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'God, Jocie, this is just a special type of sulking.' No, I don't agree with that. Sort of. I have no problem with going to uni or work on my birthday - I've had to do it in the past, and I don't like to think I'm spoilt. But the day didn't have that normal-magical-birthday-feeling to it - what if that's an omen for how this year is going to go? If that's some sort of indication, then I am not keen. And

Reason #4: It's one year closer to being an actual adult. I don't want to be an adult. Like, I know when the time comes, I'll deal with it, but not really a fan of it right now. I liked the in-between privilege of being eighteen.

So, yeah. That's my thoughts on being nineteen. Does anybody else feel this way about the age? Or am I just alone in thinking it's a little weird?