Stay or Leave? That is the question.

For many of us single, free-thinking individuals out there, living "independently" generally incorporates having your own apartment, car, job .. yada yada yada. I lived in the Us of A for about 8.5 years and as whole, Americans seem to believe that the biggest part of being independent means you are not living with your parents, or gaurdians.



Lets analyze this for a bit, shall we? When I lived and worked in the States I had my own apartment, car, job,- heck, I even had the coolest coffee maker around. I partied on the weekends, worked like a dog during the week and took the occassional vacation here or there. The lifestyle was awesome, especially considering I was accountable to nobody but my boss.



I returned to Kuwait on a business venture around 2.5 years ago and am now living with my folks. Ive ample opportunity and capacity to move out into my own apartment and live "independently" as many would like to call it, and I have, quite a few times, contemplated it very seriously. But then again, I thought to myself: I have what I need, my folks never bother me or meddle in my affairs, I have well paid job, my privacy is available whenever I need it, a car and good friends. Now why was I looking for a new apartment? Oh wait, maybe my naive little brain percieved the western philosphy of being independent means you needed to detach from your parents (Completely).

I think it eventually all boils down to cultural values. In some cultures and social settings, being attached to your family, and not neccessarily financially, is a sign of wanting to be in relative proximity but still having your independence- In others, it means you are a loser and need to get off your ass and move out.

What do I think? I think I used to be caught between 2 cultures. But now Im sure. Independence has absolutely nothing to do with where you live and who you live with.