The Telegraph turned me into clickbait!
But why being called an 'Adult Teenager' helped me embrace my life choices more.
“I’ve just seen your telegraph article. Amazing, thankyou for representing!”
My stomach lurched at this new Tiktok comment because it meant it had been published.
2 months ago, a journalist contacted me about contributing to an article about living with parents. This wasn’t the first time I’d been messaged by a writer. The Sun has already written about me, albeit a bashing together of my social media posts to suit their own angle. Zero contact with me or asking for any comment.
It was an unkind headline back in December 2023, which I only found upon googling myself, checking to see if my website was still live. As you can probably guess, the comments section was rife with negative judgment from this particular readership.
So not so funnily enough, I’ve become wary of any media contact since. Especially if I couldn’t be guaranteed what publication it would eventually be sold to/posted in. But this was the Telegraph wanting to run a finance piece. Looking at the economic impact of adult children moving back home. I thought that maybe this might be a way of getting my voice and message out their more. Maybe this time… I could actually trust the media?
We spent about 20 minutes on the phone and I sent through my parents’ responses and POV over email. And honestly, she hasn’t printed anything I didn’t say. You can read the full article HERE for yourselves. It might say you have to pay to read but I managed to use my 1 free article allowance.
But journalists need to sell papers. “38 year old girl moves in with family and they’re all doing great.” It’s not a headline that’s going to cut it. ‘Adult teenager’ moving back home with no intention to move out… now that’s going to get more attention. I get it.
Especially from a reader demographic with the average age of 61. A generation typically obsessed with hard graft and struggle and using ‘lazy snowflake’ in every other sentence. The other person they interviewed was suffering an equally strong slant. They used “I moved back in after spending £17k on travelling” to introduce his section.
My heart was racing, I was really angry at the way both of us were being made fun of. As if we were feckless and entitled. No mention either of the fact I pay rent and contribute. Being put on a stage for people to poke a stick at! Would this be a negative impact on anyone else living with parents too?!
But then I gave it to my parents to read and they said Lindsey… nothing in there is untrue and actually… it’s really not that bad!
Oh?!
Maybe I was just reading it wrong or being too self critical?!
So I sat with myself for a while and separated my protective ego from the facts. Eventually concluding that the only person judging me… was actually myself.
Mum and Dad were right, the facts were all true. I’m choosing to live at home because it gives me more freedom and less struggle. So why was I annoyed that this is what had been printed? Journalists are obviously trained to write for clicks and views. But it still depends on the person reading the words. Their sub conscious beliefs or bias’ and stories they hold.
I was judging ‘adult teenager’ as something that was negative or derogatory. But someone else reading it can think hell yes, adulting is fricking overrated anyway! Or…good for you for taking that opportunity to travel etc. And hopefully someone is also thinking… is that something I can do too?
I realised I still haven’t released my attachment to struggle.
I was judging myself or anyone else for making life easier for themselves. For following more fun. How you need to stand independently on your own two feet, no matter the cost or struggle. How deep down, I believed the only valid reason for living with parents, is to save or be desperate with no other option.
But conscious Lindsey doesn’t believe any of these things. If you follow me here on Substack or social media, I shout about these choices on a daily basis. Struggle is the exact opposite of the life I keep saying I want for myself. More ease and freedom and fulfilment please! The desire to wriggle free of the capitalism vice many of us are trapped in.
I highly recommend giving
post a read! For anyone like me who’s leaning towards community over individualism.Last time I checked, there were over 700 comments on the article. I stopped reading them for my own mental health and because of the lack of humanity from the British public! And yes, many people had the ‘lazy child’ opinion in the way I believe the writer purposely instigated. But much like the person who commented on my Tiktok, there were others who were pleased with the representation of their own living situation.
The article also laid out the facts and figure of just how hard it is for adults to live alone these days. Especially if single. So overall, it was quite a well rounded read. With recognition in the comments too, of the struggle it is for young people today. (You can catch up on my last post about this and why the math makes it so impossible!) It wasn’t just the trolls with their narrow outlook on life. A life I would never want for myself anyway.
Never take advice from someone who isn’t where you want to be.
I also reminded myself how mad I was for being turned down by the ‘BBC One Show’ last month. Because they wanted to do a feature on adults who were living with parents for deposit saving purposes only. I was gutted. And here I was, being given a platform to promote people living at home for other reasons. To give others that permission to do those things like have a career pivot or to go and travel, if you DO have the opportunity and support of your parents!
I’d been given the exact stage I’d asked to stand on.
The Telegraph has a readership of 2.5 MILLION in the UK alone. There WILL be people who read it and who will be inspired and given the courage to jump despite any stigma. To hopefully be reminded that the only opinion that really matter is those of your parents and your own. And despite 61 being the average reader age, 43% of the demographic are between 18 and 39.
The headlines haven’t really changed since both articles were published about me. It tells me how little mainstream media and the majority voice has shifted, despite the reality of the financial crisis only becoming more tragic. I’m going to have to wait for a REALLY long time for society to change their ideals about multi generational living in the West. To try and get others to question the matrix in general, the way we’re told is the ‘right’ path.
But…it’s going to take a lot longer if voices and paths like mine aren’t ever put out there.
So if they need to call me an ‘adult teenager’ then so be it! I’m also so grateful for being triggered and realising I still need to truly own it. That I still have those deep embedded judgments about myself for living at home. Because now they’ve been uncovered, I get to work on them and eek them out. So I can keep putting myself out there on platforms like this, with even more confidence and strength.
And on that note, I’m returning with my weekly Substack after 6 months off. This article being published has made me realise just how important voices like mine are. That if I don’t speak up and light my path for others to hear and see then… nothing WILL change.
It’s going to be a weekend drop in your inboxes every week. And in the next post I’ll update you with what’s been happening in my life since going MIA and celebrating 12 months free of corporate life.