Feature | STYLE
Tribe and tide
N AV I G AT I N G I S L A N D FA M I LY L I F E By Em ma Elobeid Pictu res Ti m i Eross
What do you want to be when you grow up? They say. We say. As a society, we seem collectively preoccupied with asking children this rather befuddling question. Like so many of the stock statements we trot out without thought, this one is full of logical fallacies – after all, neither ‘being’ nor ‘growing up’ are fixed states; life is not linear.
I
t is perhaps no wonder that this particular question is invariably answered by way of a single raised eyebrow (my eldest) and irreverent raspberry blowing (my youngest). And so, to deflect the heat of this existentially loaded interrogation, I put it to panel.
Putting our best foot forward – muddy or not!
Among our extended Style of Wight tribe, we have budding vets, promising comic book illustrators and fledgling architects – quite the little co-working community. But the real insight emerges from the follow-up. Take
twelve-year-old Noah. He wants to be a scientist and invent things which make life better. “Better for the planet, I mean,” he clarifies. “People (humans) just like things to be easier.” Meanwhile, six-year-old Frankie just wants to “go back and be a child” – which, on deadline days, we all agree is impeccably relatable. Another major flaw in this commonplace childhood question is its fixation on singularity over scope. After all, we are multifarious beings perfectly capable of appreciating January and February 2021
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