Generation Y Needs to Grow Up

It’s official: it’s not just me; it’s my whole generation!  According to literature, Generation Y/Millennials (born between 1982-2000s) is defined by our collective narcissism, need for meaning, tech-savvy and confusing dating rituals (or lack thereof).  It turns out that these characteristics are borne of the phenomenon that we just think we’re better!  But instead of feeling pretty good about it, our awesomeness is dragging us down.  Our smart and savvy generation is marked by an intense fear of commitment – resulting in a confusing and mostly virtual dating landscape – as well as an unwillingness to settle on a career.

So what’s to blame?  While Baby Boomers and Generation X did what they had to do to scrape together a living, we grew up coddled and bolstered up by our doting parents.  We drank copiously from the confidence Kool-Aid that told us that we need to realize our potential!  We need to do something we believe in!  We’re trying to live up to our own impossibly high expectations but, in doing so, are prolonging that painful period of adolescence.  And then we’re posting all that shit up on Facebook to feel less alone.  The repercussions:

>> Millennials Are More ‘Generation Me’ Than ‘Generation We’ <<

>> Hannah Seligson: Understanding the Misunderstood Generation Y << 

And, to make it worse, digital media is killing romance.  I even have friends who have been in serious, long-term relationships who have never been on a “real date” before!

>> The End of Courtship? <<

>> Has Facebook Ruined Love? <<

What we can all take away from this is that Generation Y just can’t manage to grow up.

So let’s try to be the adults it’s biologically possible to become…

>> Note to Generation Y Workers: Performance on the Job Matters << 

…and get our shit together!  A friend recently recommended the book to help me through this time in my life: The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter — And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay.  Apparently it’s a more extensive view on the extended adolescence we seem to be experiencing and how to get past it.

We would need a book like this.

– Sandra