"Stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down..."
- Buffalo Springfield
It's a pretty familiar song that you may have heard on movie trailers, Coke commercials, and Vietnam era documentaries. The song has a slow, earthy sound like a soft breeze teasing wind chimes. It gives the listener a feeling as if "Change" were a palpable sensation.
As if the political and economic climate weren't enough reason to disturb our equilibrium, recent conversations with some fellow twenty-somethings have helped me understand that not only this moment in time, but this moment in life makes it hard for folks to feel secure in their paths.
It was during this time in life when Kafka wrote "Metamorphosis", and when Freud furthered psychodynamics. In short, it is during this time in life when we all try to make sense of the world around us, or make sense of ourselves.
Can you think of a better time? Many of us have completed our education and have had a taste of the fruits of our labor. We now begin to judge whether the path we've chosen was the right one and it seems to be a natural instinct to want to prioritize. Maybe because we have a sense of our own mortality and want to make sure that we live worthwhile lives. Maybe it's our genetics and socialization preparing us to stabilize ourselves enough to have kids and usher in the next round of wandering minds. Regardless of whether it is a "push" or "pull" impetus, it kinda sucks.
I've taken to calling this time a second adolescence- and you know what, we should embrace it...
Even if you've found yourself having a conversation that sounded like this:
Reality Bites
Now, more than ever, takes guts. For a while I felt as if I were limited by my degree, or my GPA, or prior work experience. And that sensation was largely oppressive. But the truth of the matter is, despite any external or internal limitations, we can all choose to follow our hearts and create our own success and security.
The first time I tried to commit to writing, my first writing mentor, Mr. Moody, criticized my work as not being "concrete" enough- not having sufficient support to validate my premises. Good advice at the time, and good writing advice in general.
But, Reader, if you want numbers and statistics today, find a good baseball blog. We're talking quarter-century existential fever today, and the only cure for quarter-century existential fever is more existentialism:
1 comment:
"Because I'm not retarded mom; I was the valedictorian of my university."
"Well, you don't have to put that down on your resume."
Although I was not a valedictorian, this statement holds true. I cannot find a job, any job. It's so frustrating that college degrees don't seem nearly as valuable (see "useful") as associate's degrees from ITT Tech or the Texas School of Business.
Let's bring the 4 year degree (and beyond) back into style.
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