Thoughts on Millennials
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
The generation gap is real…and yet…
I spent the first half of this week in Chicago helping my daughter move from one apartment to another. She is very organized and we hired movers, but it was a lot of work, and because she works so many hours, she needed my help as the moving date drew closer in order to finish packing and then on moving day. Of course it was pretty exhausting for both of us, but we got through it.
I suppose it is true that every generation looks at the one behind, or the one ahead and thinks how different things are. That is how I feel when I look at my daughter. Because she is a young woman, it is hard to not compare myself to her at her current age. I was not career oriented and ambitious, she is. I was ready to settle down and have children, she is not. I wanted a quiet, simple life, she wants a lively, busy life.
It is easy to look back at our earlier decades and see them in a rosy light, but I think we forget that we had no actual idea of how things would work out. When you are in your twenties you are just starting out. You are taking a series of actions that are basically leaps of faith; whether it is starting a relationship, taking a new job, deciding to get married, having a child, getting a dog, or finding a new place to live - with all of them you are betting on yourself and acting with hope that it is the right thing. Some of these decisions work out, some of them do not.
Do I wish I was 26 again? Yes to youthful skin, a body that could handle and recover from anything I threw at it, and a sense of an adult life that is beginning. No to the uncertainty, the financial worries, job searches, sense of being unsettled, multiple moves and shifting friendships and romantic relationships.
Every generation has its societal stressors and challenges. What I see as I look around is that the pace at which my children are living is vastly different from the one I lived at their age. The internet has changed everything and no matter if it is work, relationships, housing situations, or the sense of having to keep up - it is all much more intense because it happens in real time due to the connectivity that we all have. There seems to be little space for stepping away for a chance to breathe.
I understand that my children, like me, are on a journey. Their challenges are different than mine were in many ways, but some things never change. How will they nurture their relationships, take good care of their bodies, find fulfilling work, balance work with friends, and family, manage their money, pick a place to live for the long term?
It's all too easy to fall into the stereotypes around different generations; what I see is a group of young people, like all those who have come before, navigating their way through life with tools, opportunities and challenges that their parents did not have. I do not agree with everything they do, or their ways of thinking around some things, but I work to support them and understand where they are coming from. One thing will never change - we all need support, love and encouragement as we navigate the ups and downs of life.
