I spent a large part of a short adulthood wishing I was a kid again
Since 18 I've wanted to 12 because life was better then
I remember summers feeling warm
Not just outside, but how I felt inside
I felt warmth
And love felt like something to fall helplessly in
And every day demanded a new adventure
Because we had all the time in the world
And that time is what I miss most
Not because I've aged but because in aging time slips out your hands
You don't do what you want, you do what you have to
You schedule your freedom
Your happiness is put off until weekends
You make more friends out of convenience than connection
Real connection
And real becomes something foreign to you
Real intentions, real love, real people, real everything
I dwell on the past because
It's when I can remember life feeling authentic
I see people all around me and I wonder
If they're happy or if they're comfortable?
Have they settled?

What I want out of life is a lot more than comfort
I want ideal, I wanna live fully, forever
And I hate the idea that becoming an adult means sacrificing your youth
When we're on a planet that's a part of a universe that's existed for millenniums
So whether we're six or sixty, in comparison, we're young
Youth is not something limited to children
It's the wonder in the back of your mind
And your pursuit of happiness
The drive to explore whatever finds your interest
And every person deserves to hold onto this
We deserve our ideal lives
To find what it really means to be
Thoroughly and wholeheartedly happy
I remember when being a good person was a standard
Now we are only kind to people who are kind to us
And this world, it thrives off our selfishness
The death of humanity will be our loss of humanity
Our loss of child-like optimism
Our upfront kindness and curiosity and our acceptance
I'm finally releasing you don't have to grow up to grow
As I get older, I only want to feel younger
To think younger, and act younger
I wanna enjoy my youth until I die
So here's to being 21