“Don’t laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find a face of his own.” ~Logan Pearsall Smith
I love teenagers. I love how they are perfectly balanced on the edges of hope, fear, excitement, ambition, hormones, and discovery. Endless possibilities stream before them – even if what they’ve experienced of life so far has been less than easy. I find it energizing just to be around them.When my children were young I was often warned about them becoming teenagers. Melo-dramatic eye-rolling was usually accompanied by pained declarations like, “Oh, just wait until she’s a teenager,” “He’s turning sixteen? Good luck!” “Thirteen? I’m so sorry.” So I went out and bought a bullwhip and a cage and waited for my kids to become nightmares.
The thing is, they never did. I mean, they’re not perfect. They have their moments. But then, neither am I, and so do I. I’ve pressed their buttons just about as often as they’ve pressed mine. But I’ve also heard surprising wisdom from my offspring — far beyond their ages. And sometimes mine. I notice this in their friends, too. It may simply be that their lives are uncluttered with the things that leave some of us adults jaded. Or it may be that all that wisdom and insight is actually there inside them, and we just need to listen.
Perhaps this is why I gravitate toward writing for Young Adults. They are bright packages of maturity, immaturity, wisdom, and silliness, and they make me want to live. I hope I can give something back to them in my writing.
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