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| Questioning the World |
In an
article written by Kimberly Zhang of Standard
Examiner interviewing psychologist William Perry, he states that “adolescence is the time when uncertainty develops
toward beliefs and authorities that previously seemed irrefutable such as
values, ideas or opinions”. I completely agree with what he said. The coming of
age period is when we hover on the edge between childhood and adulthood and
it’s a difficult time that is filled with indecision. I find that in
today’s society, we are constantly trying to find solutions to avoiding teenage
angst or what we can do to control it. Contrary to popular belief, it
unavoidable!
Some
adults may categorize our over-emotional reaction to everything as ‘angst’ but
I believe it’s the wrong word to use. If you think about it, our parents all
went through the same thing but they probably don’t realize that they were
exactly the same at our age. They are now looking at it from an outsider’s
perspective. It’s typical for the coming of age process to be a difficult and
trying time. We teens are trying to deal with crises of personality, of
friendship and of image. I personally think that we are entitled to let out
that feeling of insecurity. As much as it may annoy the people around us, we
are trying to understand the ever changing world around us. It’s a time period
in our life when our values are shaken to the core and we have to start
thinking for ourselves. We have to re-evaluate everything we ever learned to
see if we are the same person. Of course at times our emotions take over and we
may seem kind of crazy, but that’s okay!
I wouldn't say that ‘angst’ is necessarily a defining feature of the coming of
age process. Since we have to go through all this emotional turmoil, I think
that the angst is just a side effect. Maybe it seems like we are letting out
emotions rule our lives but we are in the process of figuring out where we fit
in the world. The angst is just an output of the overwhelming stress we are
under. Maybe it’s just society’s view on the whole coming of age process but I
believe that it time we start taking away all the over dramatization of the
teenage angst. I would just say to embrace it! Experiencing these types of emotions and
situations allow you to grow
into yourself. Embrace this period in your life before you are thrust into
the adult world, the place where, I believe, all the angst truly exists.
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