Sh*t, We Really Aren't Kids Anymore
Sh*t, We Really Aren't Kids Anymore
Feature art by Abigail Manaluz
I remember playing a secondhand Nintendo DS from my cousin when I was younger. It was simpler then, when all I would worry about was how I could train my corgi to win the Agility competition in Nintendogs or how I could defeat Bowser using Yoshi in Super Mario 64.
I never thought I'd be lining up for hours just to get my NBI clearance for my internship. I never thought I’d cry over a research proposal. I never thought I’d watch my brother, my childhood playmate and frenemy, grow up from a mere boy who only plays video games into an adult going through various interviews just to get a job after college. I never thought I’d be able to talk to my parents about serious stuff and that I’d understand and relate to them more.
“Maybe I’m not exactly where I thought I’d be.” As soon as I heard this lyric from Barefoot Theatre Collaborative’s production of We Aren’t Kids Anymore, I instantly felt seen. We only experience adulthood once and stepping into it is a terrifying experience. “I used to have eyes that would light up with wonder,” our idealism vanishes bit by bit once we realize that not everything will fall into place so easily. Days go by fast and maybe if we can just get a goddamn minute to pause, think, and find our purpose once again, it’ll be easier.
Seeing this show validated my experience as a young adult, that maybe being an adult was meant to be this messy and complicated. I knew I would grow up someday. The thought was exciting and never dreadful at the time because all along I thought I’d be wiser and smarter so that it would be easy. Never once I expected to step into this directionless, and as someone who became of legal age at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a sense of helplessness once the economy opened up once again for it felt like I had been frozen in time. Being stuck inside our home for almost two years and finally going out once everything opened again, I saw how much the world has changed, I had to catch up to these changes and approach it not as an adolescent, but as a young adult with responsibilities.
“We all learn by screwing up and letting down the ones who stay.” It’s natural for humans to experience failure, but we learn from these mistakes. As an adult, these mistakes have consequences, and we have no choice but to face them. We will hit roadblocks along the way , and we hope that the people who have seen us in our rocky bottom will help us, stay with us patiently, and witness our growth. After all, we’re all just trying to get by.
These people, your loved ones, grow and change too. The relatives you grew up with are now living abroad. People from your high school are either finally living on their own or settled down with a family. We stay with these people despite the distance and hectic schedules. Deep inside we feel overwhelmed by how far they have achieved. At some point you compare your life to theirs and ask yourself, What the hell am I doing with my life?
The musical understands these frustrations. We yearn for the good old days, without the worry of getting through the rocky path of life, but we aren’t kids anymore. We can’t escape these problems—we face them. We accept what life has to offer and learn how to deal with them. It will be hard and days will be monotonous, but you will learn how to stick around.
Ultimately, We Aren’t Kids Anymore perfectly captures the overall experience of adulthood— messy, complicated, and directionless. Watching the show is an emotional journey as an adult still figuring it all out. Life can get so busy for all of us and sometimes we just need a piece of art that makes us feel seen and heard, and for someone to tell us that living now will just get harder, but you’ll get through it.
Barefoot Theater Collaborative's production of We Aren’t Kids Anymore runs until May 25, 2025 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit Makati.
