We’ve all heard of it. Most of us are living it. Shit, it has become such a cliché that the mere mention of those words can induce eye rolls that rival a seizure. But for those whom it applies to, it is very real and does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, with our current administration and state of affairs, domestically and worldwide, it seems like it is going to get A LOT worse before it gets better.
Everything from crippling student loans to the endless search for the perfect avocado toast are part of the millennial struggle. Using memes to work through our political and existential angst (also known as sublimation, thank you psych degree), obsessing over booty gains, fawning over anything and everything millennial pink (guilty AF), and making EVERY. DAMN. THING. into a hashtag—these are all quintessential elements of being a millennial.
But what about underneath all that? What does it actually FEEL like to be a millennial and experience the “millennial struggle”? Well, if you are reading this you probably already guessed that I am about to tell you. It feels like being 26 and having two degrees but still not being able to find a job. It feels like moving back home with my mom after eight glorious years of freedom and living in different cities all over the country. It feels like being stuck in place with all this energy and potential that is being wasted. It feels like having a grand scheme to travel and work abroad for five years after my master’s, and then moving back to D.C. and deciding that I want to scrap that plan entirely. It feels like knowing exactly what you’re doing with your life one minute then having NO FUCKING IDEA WHATSOEVER the next minute. It feels like being lost. Totally, utterly, miserably lost.
Sounds pretty dramatic right? Well it is—but I am not alone. In fact, what I just described is a pretty accurate depiction of the lives of the majority of people in my generation. Maybe not the exact details of my life, but the feeling I described – of being lost, helpless even – is fairly universal for millennials. And guess what, it’s not our fault! Many factors are to blame: the baby boomer generation that voraciously consumed all the economic resources for themselves in pursuit of the American dream, forgetting to set up financial and social security for the next generations (aka millennials); the rising cost of higher education, much of which is privatized (remind me not to let me kids go to private school please), forcing many—including yours truly—to take out a disgusting amount of loans to cover this education, all with little no job security post graduation. Oh I am sorry, you were looking for a post-grad candidate who is 22-26 years old with 30 years of experience. Fuck outta here!
On top of all that, we have to deal with the era of Trump—which has a lot more to do with the rest of the country than the “president” himself. In the last few years, particularly since the election, we have seen the most disgusting display of hatred, animosity, prejudice, and intolerance since before the Civil Rights era. It is particularly disturbing on the heels of the Obama presidency, which for most of us was a spectacular achievement for the country and just an overall pleasure to call him our Commander-in-Chief. It feels like we have taken one step forward, 18 thousand steps back. While it is disturbing, it is still not surprising. Most of those whom the hatred is directed toward are no stranger to this prejudice, and were not fooled for a second into thinking that having a Black president meant our country was no longer bigoted or prejudiced.
Before I go off onto a long political rant, which I will absolutely get to in another blog post, let me bring it back to the original point. Us millennials are among the most accepting, loving and open generation in decades, and despite all the bullshit that has come to the surface in recent years, we are more willing than ever to bare our true colors: to come out of the closet, to boast our cultures and religions openly, and to just be fearlessly and beautifully ourselves. This is the aspect of being a millennial that is most ridicule: the “unicorn” syndrome. Thinking that we are so special that we are deserving of some special treatment and some special lifestyle. Well if you think buying a Fenty highlighter and matcha latte is extravagant, remember that only a tiny percentage of my generation will ever be able to buy a house without a co-signer, or ever pay off their student loans, let alone put away savings for retirement or their children’s education.
What the critics fail to see is that these tiny “extravagances” are our way of coping with a broken world that was handed to us by the previous generations. Finding tiny pleasures and small glimpses of beauty within this mess we call a life is our version of therapy. And on top of which, we are not satisfied with the status quo any longer. Social media has opened our eyes to a limitless amount of information about how other people eat, dress, talk, dance, exercise, work, travel, etc. We realized there is SO much more out there to discover and accomplish, and we will be damned if we don’t take advantage.
Personally, my desire to travel and see the world is largely fueled by a desire to pursue a career in international social work. I see how many people are struggling around the world in a much different way than anyone in this country is, and I want to help. I want to learn from them, and figure out a way I can help them be more self-sustaining. I am not content sitting around and leaving the rest of the world to rot.
So maybe you still look down on fashion bloggers and YouTube celebrities, and that’s okay. Not everyone is born to be a politician or a CEO or whatever your limited view of successful people looks like. But here we are, just trying to figure out a way to make sense of it all. We are doing our best. And perhaps it will be a long time until our best is enough. But until then, gimme my matcha latte and avocado toast goddamit!
