I realized something awesome yesterday. 

Exams ended for me on Thursday. I turned in my textbooks, had lunch with a friend, went home and took a nap. The next day I cleaned my bathroom and then played video games until that afternoon when another friend came over and then I made dinner for us. Yesterday I started and finished a new painting, went to WalMart and then to a Yule party.

I didn’t ask anyone permission to do any of this and I stayed out as long as I wanted.

Then it hit me. I don’t have to ask permission for anything ever again. I could get in my car right now and go across the country if I wanted (I don’t.) Today I could make a cake and paint something new and work on my book and no one could tell me otherwise. After graduation I can get a big-girl job and it can be whatever job I decide to pursue. I could leave the country and get a job there. I could get a puppy. Or five puppies. Imagine such a world!

The openness and freedom of being on my own used to freak me out a little, but yesterday I realized just how neat being a grownup is.