This former child actor's Instagram post about growing up is on point.
Dylan Sprouse is teaching us all a thing or two about growing up.
\n\nIf you were a child of the '90s, the Sprouse twins might be pretty familiar faces.
The Sprouse twins were household names during the early 2000s. Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images.
Now, Dylan and Cole Sprouse are all grown up. As proud alumni of New York University, the twins have gone their separate ways, with Cole pursuing other acting endeavors, and Dylan doing, well, whatever he wants for the time being.
Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Katsuya.
But Dylan says he gets asked what he's doing all the time, to the point of exhaustion. And this week, he took to Instagram to address the question.
Sprouse called out the hypocrisy of a society that expects him to keep up a career he indulged in as a child.
Screenshot courtesy of the writer.
Screenshot courtesy of the writer
He also called out that it's OK to be doing nothing and to work on figuring out what his next steps might be.
"I'm enjoying myself by relaxing, traveling, consuming media, and continuing to learn" but the truth is is that unless I'm doing something bigger and better than what I've previously done, people deem it regressive."
It’s no secret that many child stars struggle to transition into adulthood. Drugs, alcohol, and unemployment tend to find even the most successful of child stars, ultimately setting the stage for a less than desirable adulthood.
\n\nThe pressures of Hollywood can be daunting, and for a kid working in the industry since they were practically in diapers, it makes a lot of sense that they may want to take their time in deciding what's next. The Sprouse twins have emerged pretty smoothly, though, and that's impressive.
The Sprouse twins enjoyed growing up out of the spotlight. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Plus, these guys are only 23 years old! The same age that Tina Fey was working at a YMCA. The age that Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche had recently finished writing her first play and was getting ready to pursue other projects. The age when Oprah was fired from her first journalism job. The age that Ralph Lauren was still serving in the army.
Whether you're a recent college graduate or a former child star, you don't always know what you want, and that's totally normal! As Dylan admits in his post, while Cole is pursuing acting, that may not be what he wants to stick with — a concept that's totally OK in your 20s.