Gemma Spake

We're kind of drowning in it.

We never get a break from it.

So it's hard to not fear more of it, especially the kind that could be randomly thrust on you at any given moment.

A really relevant theory that comes up time and time again on the podcast is Arnott's concept of emerging adulthood, which spans basically the late teens through to the end of our 20s.

Typically, if I was to ask you, you know, what are the developmental life stages of being a human, you would probably say childhood, teen years, adulthood, late adulthood.

But emerging adulthood points to this distinct life stage of like almost adulthood where everything is kind of in between.

You know, you're no longer a teenager, but you also don't feel like a settled version of yourself, especially not the kind that you kind of imagined as a child.

You know, when I was a kid, I genuinely thought that I'd be married with my own kids by now.

And

What was I thinking?

I don't even know who I am as a person yet.

This period of emerging adulthood has a few key battles in store for us.

Identity exploration, instability, feeling in between, loneliness and loss.

It feels like because of all these battles we're facing, because of all these milestones we're going through, every six months of my 20s at least, I'm like an entirely new person.

Every six months, I feel like I'm just completely reborn.

Like Gemma in early 2025 versus now, I honestly think that me and her would struggle to even have a conversation.

Just for example, for you, think back over the last year of your life.

There are parts of yourself from only 12 months ago that you probably can't relate to anymore because of how rapidly our lives change during this distinct period of life.

The emotional and the psychological environment this creates means that when another big change comes along, even a positive one, you don't necessarily experience it as a fun thing or a fun little upgrade.

The first thing I know my mind goes to when change is happening in my life, even good change, is like, how the hell am I going to fit this in?