I received a new Discover magazine today-along with two
solid brass swan heads, but that’s another story- and began reading one of the
articles, this one about the aging brain.
Now there’s something that has always intrigued me,
something that comes up in whatever I’m reading, be it YA fiction, my History
notes, or, today, an article from Discover magazine. I’ll give you a hint; in
the Discover article Robert Epstein writes “Recent studies suggest that the
total loss in brain volume due to atrophy—a wasting away of tissue caused by
cell degeneration—between our teen years and old age is 15 percent or more…”
Why did this sentence catch my attention, spurring me to run
upstairs without even finishing the article and start writing this? Well
because it’s pointing out something that is in our society today downplayed-
the fact that as teenagers, we are in the prime of our lives. No, some of you
will say; that’s when we get into our twenties, maybe even a bit after that;
that’s when we have all the energy and opportunities that our parents (aka the
‘old people’ in our lives) constantly yearn for and miss. That’s what they want
you to think, I say.
The truth is, despite how our lives are structured today in
the twenty-first century, our bodies are made to fit the minimum lifestyle.
Years and years and years ago our primary function was to survive- not become
famous, or fight for equal rights or anything “meaningful” by today’s
standards; we were simply to survive, and do so in the most efficient way
possible. Because of this our bodies came to fit our needs, so that we reached
maturity quickly, reproduced, and then were useful enough until we died a few
years later so that we could contribute to the rest of the community. We still
reach physical maturity very early, even earlier, some of us, because of the
chemicals we are subject to today, only our lives are structured differently
now. I mentioned earlier that this comes up in YA fiction and my History notes,
and it’s true; it bugs me. YA fiction has young people, teenagers, in the
physical prime of their lives, actually doing things, saving the world,
sometimes; but only because they are subject to adverse situations that make
our normal social structure meaningless. In History class I am met with the
stories and portraits of men and women who have accomplished more than I ever
will, some before even reaching their eighteenth birthday. Theodore Roosevelt
is constantly in the back of my mind, fueling an inferiority complex- he had
what, seventy two jobs and was seven times more badass than anyone alive today?
Today most of us (unless we’re among the ranks of Gabby
Douglas and Missy Franklin and other exemplary badasses) have a set path that
may or may not lead us to a livable, mostly unremarkable life. We go to
school, for a set number of years (a set number that is getting harder and
harder from which to deviate; my aunt skipped a year in high school, but I
doubt most anyone in my generation would be allowed to. I wish I could do
that.) then we may or may not go to college; though if we want to be
“successful” and can either afford it or con the school into giving us enough
money, we probably will. Then we try to graduate, and now in our early
twenties, move on to searching for a job and trying to settle down with a family
or something and white picket fences and blah blah blah. Our lives aren’t based
on the same things anymore; in fact, human priorities have changed so much that
our lives seem to be created for us. To some extent we all follow a pattern
that has been formulated by the generations that preceded us.
It seems, though, that the most successful people are those
that break this pattern. It’s probably been this way in all societal patterns;
dissenters either die, become pariahs, or are written into history as a great
mind of their generation. I suppose that’s what makes the Steve Jobs’ and
Theodore Roosevelts- people who are brave enough to disobey, strong enough to
take advantage of not just what certain jobs or paths offer them, but their own
resources. People who take advantage of themselves, and how they are made to work, not just how our
culture wants us to.
This is slightly rant-ish, but basically this is stuff that
should be recognized; our technical restraints, and then those cast on us
(loosely, despite our interpretation). Our lives are structured by competing
schedules.
This year I’m seventeen. I hope I’m strong enough to ignore
the timetables and accomplish something that means something for real.
With sincerest regards,
Leigh
