I was talking to a friend these days, in her late 20s like me, and we came to a conclusion: we were more adults. I don’t know if it’s a common thing for those approaching 30, this insecurity. But we stopped to think about how we used to read a lot, we studied for pleasure, we were always up to date with politics and we worried (too much) about showing the world how cultured and content women we were. Would we be living in the new adolescence?
Today, at almost 30, we spend a lot of time on the internet, we watch a lot more series than we read books, we update ourselves only with news headlines and we use twitter as a source of information, because the article is accompanied by memes. Many of us don’t have financial planning that goes beyond New Year’s Eve. We are teenagers with our own home (sometimes) and money in our pockets. Sometimes. What happens to our generation?
They say the internet makes everything faster. Perhaps our midlife crisis was anticipated with this bombardment of well-heeled bodies, misguided youths and 18-year-old influencers pumping through social media. Or maybe we are more concerned with our happiness than with the message we pass on to society. Carpe diem generation. Will it be?
I’m not talking about this as another manifesto against the millenials. God forbid, I love being one of the class that prioritizes quality of life, who seeks purpose in everything they do and who is not afraid to question the rules of society. We are kind of teenagers yes, but like those cool teenagers who got involved in the little school newspaper, did volunteer work and weren’t afraid to express their style and personality.
I’m proud of all the rules I needed to deconstruct to live a life where my happiness comes before my need to prove something to someone. Don’t think it’s easy to allow yourself this way! But it’s that thing (which I’m tired of talking about here): you need to have a balance. Doing what we like is wonderful, but we also need to charge ourselves in addition to the work demands. You also need to study, evolve, invest, take care of the future. Carpe diem doesn’t last forever.
It may harden, but without losing the tenderness ever. Che’s famous phrase makes sense in so many different contexts! In mine, that’s it: taking on the responsibilities of adult life without losing the spontaneity and rebellion of this new adolescence.