I read it this weekend and now it's Wednesday and I'm still thinking about it. In some ways, it nails the way I feel about my life in a hideous way. The article addresses, in depressing detail, why a lot of young people ask themselves this question ‘Why haven’t I made more progress?’ and in conclusion, eloquently proposes that we "grow the fuck up." And you know, that makes sense.
In what I assume should be meant to comfort you, young, attractive twenty-something, the article points out that it's not just you that feels this way. There's a pervasive amount of well-educated young people who thought they should have accomplished certain things or done something incredible by the ripe old age of 25. Why? Other people have. Tons of them. Starting when we were young. It's an idea that is constantly reinforced: "so-and-so did blah-blah-blah by now". Really? Awesome.
Furthermore, the article cites the rise of social media and the constant barrage of information of people we only moderately care about as a factor that exacerbates this. Best quote: "All these people you couldn’t give a shit about a couple of years ago are now these omnipresent benchmarks and counterpoints to measure against whatever you have or haven’t got going on in your life." Thanks Mark Zuckerberg, another one of those young persons who conquered the world before even graduating from the Ivy League.
Truth be told, I'm awfully lucky. For better (or arguably worse) I've been gainfully employed at a "cutting-edge" start-up company since I was 21. Others have fared far worse. My particular situation has allowed me to say "I want to do [this thing ] at work" and someone else would say "Go for it." I've learned a vast amount in 4 years here. But that begs the question, what next? Please, tell me there is something newer and shinier with a faster trajectory for growth and success. I'm hell-bent on finding it.
In an effort to combat the pull of sulking on my couch Facebook stalking people I don't miss at all, I'm forging my own path. I started a blog as a creative outlet because my other artistic skills are pretty dismal. Arestia and I are shopping our services as event planners throughout town and putting ourselves on a crash course with self-created destiny.
But what really bothers me is; of course this is all true. Who doesn't want to call the shots & be a self-made, self-reliant, independent person? I don't know a single person who wouldn't rather pursue a life that answers to one's own demands, schedules, and dreams first rather than someone else's. Do you?
Dream Big. And Breathe.
Amen to that. I need to stop reading about the next 24 year-old wiz-kid somewhere and then judging myself outrageously because I haven't done what he or she did. It's hard, though.
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