The Millennial and Gen Z fight/argument/whatever has been hilarious to me and probably because I mostly saw it on TikTok. At this point by the way, I find TikTok to be the more superior social media space and partly it is because I can consume without the need to produce content. Reminds me of Tumblr in that way. Of course there is performance behind it but often there are videos that are so real and relatable they make me smile in a way I haven’t.
The way I see it, millennials are aware and know better. They are more exposed, know about systemic issues even when they try to act like they don’t and they know that there are decisions baby boomers make/made that make no sense, know more about mental health, are trying to heal, ask better questions etc. HOWEVER millennials mostly don’t do better and don’t make decisions that are that different from baby boomers.
I sometimes think that it's because they believe that they are aware, it should count for something (probably does) but they end up in similar situations as baby boomers, working for THE MAN, with more debt and less assets, unhappy relationships et al because life under the system of capitalism and the patriarchy doesn’t care about self awareness especially if you don’t make different choices. You know?
Do I think millennials sometimes see themselves as special snowflakes*? Yes. I also think millennials want baby boomers to validate them and Gen Z don’t care about that.
That being said, Millennials walked so Gen Z could fly.
*special snowflake in this context means a belief that the outcome will somehow be different than it has been for everyone else who has made the same decision.
(please note this is a summary of a GENERAL observation)
I envy people who seem able to freely and deeply love. I know I talk a lot about wanting a soft life and it is so much more than ease, it also includes being open to the transformation that love brings, given and received, it is about community which to be honest, I struggle with. I am not “carefree,” I am an over thinker, live in my head a lot, recovering people pleaser with middle child syndrome complications. I am never the “fun” person to be around - I seem to be the stable, reliable one one talks to about work and not about romantic relationships.
The other day I was telling someone that I am a suspicious person because at any given moment I am wondering what the intentions of people around me are, reading all cues, between the lines, filling in the blanks etc. And since I am low-key a pessimist, I often have negative thoughts and please be aware that I know -I KNOW- that people aren’t even thinking about me but still, the thoughts prevail.
My previous newsletter was not easy for me to hit publish on. I actually had to have a friend read and proof it and they assured me that I should publish it. You see, it is quite easy for people to take what I have written and say “how dare she write this, she is married blah blah” (I hear this when I comment on SO MANY THINGS you’d be surprised, as though wife is my entire existence) and if there is one thing I do not want to partake in is dramatics of any kind especially those that happen in online spaces - been there, done that, do not recommend. Especially since people refuse to see that two things can be true at the same time. And in case it wasn’t clear, I am very much team decenter cis het romantic relationships (I am not in control of how people choose to understand/decode this).
The whole Millennial/Gen Z thing led to a conversation about romanticism and I re-watched this video.