Skip to main content

Peter Pan Syndrome: The Refusal to Grow Up and the Perpetual Infantilization of the Self

  

It’s a 11 pm on 11/11.

I am supposed to be writing something important. To try and convince a client why the use of AI is okay for the brand. Instead, I’m penning my second blog post for the day. Probably my shadow self (Jung dodappa FTW) making up for all the othla times I’ve manifested this year.

Anyway, back to the point. Or straying away from it further. Wheeee…

 

Peter Pan Syndrome.

 

According to ChatGPT, Dr. Dan Kiley, who popularized the term in his 1983 book The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up, defined it as a condition where adults exhibit emotional immaturity and avoid typical adult roles such as career, financial management, and stable relationships.

 

Well, nigga, does it feel good to hop jobs every 18 months with a matcha (or whatever fruity fucking drink is in vogue that season) in hand ignoring the double text from your situationship?

 

I honestly threw up a little writing that sentence. It was probably the undigested rum. Or the stale meat that pushed down the rum.

 

This blog is an ode to the friend who did the same mistake I did 3-odd years ago. Fuck, even two years go. Well, she’s young. And like all young people, is stupid and will learn from her own mistakes. Surrogate mistakes never made a stable (wo)man.

 

What defines a “young person”?

 

Rahul Gandhi was trolled for being a “youth leader” at 40. He probably still is, idk.

 

I get trolled for admitting I’m old at 35. People now take offense on my part for being called old. I don’t give a damn. I’m just too old and tied of it all. Living takes a lot of energy. I don’t have enough to spend it on being offended. You do you, man. You do you.

 

Folks of today (kids in the mid-30s who try to “embrace their inner child” and all that nonsense) show the emotional maturity of a walnut. Unable to come to grips with the void that opened up in the back of their amygdala when the clock struck 12 on the third day of the 30th autumn they witnessed.


Something shifts when you grow old. It’s a sudden, staggering shift. Like a chameleon that’s just molted overnight.

Do chameleons molt? Let’s assume they do.

Forever running from “adult responsibilities”, which is basic bitch adulting, is just pathetic and sad. Tyring to retain, reclaim and relive a time of nostalgia that’s long gone by trying to recreate the feeling of listing (watching) to Britney Spears’ Toxic for the first time except it’s Dua Lipa wearing her crotch-hugging pseudo swimsuit, with whatever song she’s got trending these days.

Look, (wo)man. If you’re in your 30’s it’s your birth right to start every 345th sentence with “Back in my days…”


If you don’t then there’s something wrong with you.

 

I’ll come back to this some day and write a proper post about my actual thoughts on the subject. Until then… why did you even come this far? You’re either too old or too curious. Both are recipes for disaster.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clubhouse. CoWin. China.

If you feel an odd sense of deja vu while reading this piece, then you've spent too much time switching between Facebook and Clubhouse. Unless you've been living underground or in a home with ACT broadband, you know what Clubhouse is - it is where many people can have their Mann ki Baat at once. And Facebook has turned into a platform to critique, analyse and make fun of discussions that happen on Clubouse. Congrats Clubhouse, you just replaced the Indian Government, at least as far as Facebook discourses go. Clubhouse is more or less an impulsive, live podcast session - an open space where everyone is made to feel like Joe Rogan. But no one talks about DMT or shaved gorillas or MMA or shaved gorillas doing MMA while on DMT. But it always does sound like everyone is on something stronger than the devil's lettuce. Maybe you need that to hear your own thoughts over the din of uncomprehensive ramblings and mouth-breathing noises. Speaking of noises, Saudi Arabia restricted the...
1 comment
Read more

Enjoying the charm of average movies

OTT has redefined the way we enjoy 3-star movies. Movies that aren't worth the hassle of a big-screen viewing, yet not so bad that you miss it entirely.  Bonus points if it has some terrific performances. It's as exciting as riding a small displacement motorcycle fast on ORR. Hella fun. They are the kind of movies that find permanent housing on your watchlist but are always given a pass in favour of something more exciting. Something more fun.  And when you do want to watch it, it's like bathing in cold water - you just have to brush aside good judgment and jump in headfirst. You enter a world where the action isn't exciting enough, the drama isn't convincing enough and the comedy evokes a toothy smile at most. Movies that are worth your time, if time isn't worth that much really. It's sad to see such movies getting pulled into dark alleys of intellectualism and beaten up by the critic mafia with batons of tasteful art.  The barometer to judge these movies i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Peter Principle and the (Middle) Managerial Trap

If you are in any managerial position (thanks to promotions) and this is the first time you’re hearing of the Peter Principle, then you are already a lost cause.  Close this tab and go back to scrolling Instagram reels. Bye-bye. According to Wikipedia (remember that old relic, before ChatGPT became the de facto encyclopedia? Remember encyclopedia? Never mind). According to Wikipedia, the Peter Principle “observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to 'a level of respective incompetence’”, which means your promotions are based on how good you are at your current role. You continue to rise the rungs of corporate till you reach a position where you, and you will, suck at your job. At some point in your career, you will end up rotting away at a level you are least competent at; some place where you barely scrape by, unsure of where you’re faltering because the barometer for quality is hidden behind a thick veil of your own incompetence. Hence, the burnout.  And the desperate ...
1 comment
Read more