When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was five, I didn’t dream of becoming anything specific. I just wanted to be an adult. In my mind, adulthood was a beautiful, boundless place where you could make your own decisions, follow your heart without asking for permission, and move through the world freely, untouched by rules. It felt almost magical, like a life without limits.
Of course, I didn’t understand then that the rules of childhood exist under a quiet shelter of protection and privilege. As a child, you’re held, guided, and kept safe from consequences. As an adult, every choice is yours, along with everything that follows, good or bad.
Now that I’m here, I sometimes find myself missing that earlier kind of freedom, the kind that came without awareness. It was the freedom to drift through a day without thinking about responsibility, the future, or the weight of decisions. Back then, the world felt vast and simple. Now, it feels small, interconnected, and often heavy with meaning.
Adulthood isn’t the absence of rules; it’s the presence of responsibility. That’s a very different kind of freedom than the one I imagined.
sarchakra 