a mark, a mission, a brand, a scar

Spontaneity. It means I will write about what I want, when I want to.

Recently a friend of mine wrote about maturity (along with the word "indescribable", which has nothing to do with this blog, so if you really want to you can click here to read about it. Otherwise, I shall copy and paste her thoughts on maturity here):

Part one- A word I like and can easily define: mature.

Some words are so defined by our lives that they become a part of us and are grafted forever into our nature. One such word is mature. The definition of mature is mainly twofold. In one instance it describes age as in a living thing, "complete in natural growth or development." On the psychological and spiritual side of the coin, it is denoted as "fully developed in body or mind, as a person, or a characteristic of full development. To me mature describes a person who does not behave with recklessness, but is full of wisdom and makes responsible choices. Maturity is something I strive for constantly. It is strong, smart, brave, cautious, and knows how to love. There is a regalness about it that causes one to instantly be attracted and intently listen to one with such a quality. It is more times than not assumed that maturity is a thing for the middle-aged, that with age comes the time to rise into the position of a smart and bright leader. Most are sadly mistaken, for assumption is the lowest form of knowledge and when one has reached a certain mind of development, they have indeed learned this. What would life be if we were all so willing to learn!

Indeed. A very well-written, thought-provoking speculation. I, however - while still respecting her opinion and being in full agreement with several points she mentioned - have different thoughts on the matter. These I briefly touched upon in some sort of hurried, makeshift response:

see now, i hate the word "mature"! its definition makes my nerves writhe.

on which scale are we measuring a person's completion or development? what level of this adjective are we expected to arrive at, or at least aspire to, and why?

all man is not created equal. by that i mean that God made every single one of us so irrevocably different (read: unable to be annulled) that to judge a person's growth seems to me somewhat blasphemous. sure, to some degree you can determine immaturity (throwing a tantrum when you don't get your way long after elementary school is over, for example), but i loathe the way the term "mature" is tossed around like a trait to be admired.

if we must use this word, i prefer us to be honest with it and apply it correctly: we have moments of maturity. but i disagree with straight up labeling a person with it (i can see it now: John Smith strolls into the business meeting sporting cutting-edge pomade, old spice aftershave and a new, freshly-pressed Georgio Armani marred only by a modest blue-and-white sticker stating, "HI, I'M...Mature"). the way i see it, maturity is a term bleached in obscurity that the world uses as yet another way to forge some sort of societal pyramid.

and that's all i have to say about that. :)

(Which was, of course, not all I had to say about that, but remembering that I was in a rush and for the sake of simplicity, I kept my rambling to a minimum. And if you don't know me, yes that was a minimum, as once I get involved in any kind of debate or deep discussion about something, I usually cannot stop myself until all facets have been touched upon and all trains of thought have been exhausted.)

Now, about my rebuttal. Please don't get me wrong; wisdom and responsibility and [insert any number of admirable qualities here] are certainly worthy of striving for. In fact, even in the Bible we are encouraged to seek and acquire these and/or similar attributes. It is not the pursuit of these things that I have a problem with, but the notion that having them means that we are mature. (And again, what is maturity? The fact that someone, somewhere decided it was capable of being defined in a neat little package - just so as to earn it a place in Websters? - irks me.)

Allow me to repeat: on which scale are we measuring a person's completion or development? Is there some sort of human growth handbook I'm not aware of? Or perhaps we're supposed to compare ourselves with an existing group of pre-ordained masters of righteous living. One might seem "mature," but compared to their pastor, for example, they have a long way to go. A student may seem bright, but compared to that irritating overachiever in the front row, the bulbs on their tree are looking a little dim. One more time: A kid could break every track record in high school history, but compared to Lance Armstrong, he or she hasn't accomplished much. Getting the picture? I hope so, because these conclusions are so ridiculous that just typing them out makes me angry.

I don't know. When I start thinking about subjects such as this one, I tend to feel like I've been thrust into a lonely game of tennis. I keep hitting balls over the net (each ball representing a thought), but since no one is standing on the other side, they just roll around until they finally stagnate. Instead of bouncing ideas off of walls, however, I'm looking to bounce them off of other people! So if you have an opinion about this matter, even if it's just a simple disagreement about something I've said, please pick up a racket and swing away. I need you!