A Generation Redefined
Unhappy?
“I’m not unhappy,” he said. “Only people with no purpose are unhappy. I’ve got a purpose.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones
Our World
Not everyone wants to admit it, but our world is moving into a digital age. However, we never dreamed of how fast technology can and will continue to grow and change. We can see the change as vibrant as the hairs on our arm. Each hair is a new addition to the raging fire of the digital age.
Our problems are coated from despair due to our own desires that give ourselves away and hide us from the pain of commitment, work, and time. Have you ever wasted away watching Netflix for six hours? When you could be doing something productive and make money? Even if that money is a wee bit of bucks. Any bucks is better than no bucks, right?
With our present conditions, the generation we have entered is full of entrepreneurs, stock chasers, minimum wage workers, degree chasers ( like me) who have debt, and those that have come to a crossroads in their life. It might not seem like a crisis…but it is.
On the surface, we can look back at other generations and wonder “ why do these people seem so happy even though they faced wars, discrimination, and other versions of terrible treatment?” Why does our generation look like its heading for a hopeless future?
You got no one to relate to
You’re different, and everyone hates you
You feel like there’s no other way
To end all the pain and no one can save you
We have been told we have to save more for retirement and work longer than any other generation. Some of us took to trying the fast ways of making money or creating businesses to help counter this. But all in all, the more we look at our current stance in society…the bleaker it is looking for our generation to be able to thrive and be happy.
We have more people taking to drinking, pleasing themselves through pleasure, smoking, and drugs. Overall, it sounds like our generation is losing our sense of purpose? How we can be hopeful for the future when everything we do looks like we are taking five steps backward?
The Good News; We Are Not The First Nor The Last
“People who fit don’t seek. The seekers are those that don’t fit.”
― Shannon L. Alder
We are not the first nor the last generation that is finding unhappiness roaring its ugly head on us. There are songs written this year with the words “ Lowkey F2020” which tell a telling story about how harrowing one year can be to a person. The West Coast fires, pandemics, face masks, and continuous adjustments to what jobs exist and how these jobs can function make our current situation harrowing for us. Did we see it coming? No.
However, an entire generation is relating to the words as we face unprecedented amounts of struggle. Although, it is not fair to call one devastating year more important than the Great Depression, World War Two, and Watergate. Unhappiness is a movement. It leads to change. We become forced to change or keep our feet dragging against the cement ground without any shoes on.
When we become unhappy we try to figure out how to erase the feeling instead of working through it. Many generations of the past did not have the same access to distractions as we had. They were forced to face their unhappiness right in the face. Deal with it or don’t. But don’t cry, or make excuses for it or their own actions.
During my school years, I read a book called Fahrenheit 45 which blames reading as the sole cause of unhappiness and insanity. Knowledge is evil according to the book. I find this a fascinating read because as we proceed through our year's people are reading less, and less. We are shortcutting sentences to meet a standard texting box for cell phones and twitter. Emojis, Gifs, and many other ways to have conversations have popped up making the average reader become lazy. The danger with this is that we lose our ability to yearn for higher knowledge.
The struggle you’re forced to keep hidden
But who is to blame when nobody would listen?
You cried out for help, but no one paid attention
The blood in the halls could’ve all been prevented, yeah
We are a generation driven to speedy access to technology and communication. Technology acts like a lure that brings us closer to each other while keeping us at a distance from ourselves at the same time. Some couples stare at their phones more than each other at dinner. It’s like heaven is in the palms of their hands, and not the eyes of their lovers.
Our phones, technology, and habits have created unhealthy forms of addiction. Addiction can be naturally inclined when we feel pleasure from what we are doing. Human Nature has a habit of being obsessive about items, people, and memories. We are often in an unhealthy relationship with our obsessions.
Society has a way of showing us what is considered healthy habits versus what is not. We are fed these distinctions through consumerism, commercials, social media, and each other. Too much of anything is unhealthy. It is just a basic reality.
People are exhibiting their energy to a negative flow. When you do something for the means of what you want you to become enamored into a stronger hold of depression later in life. Many relationships are suffering from the same concept. Access to technology is not the blame but the active use. ( I don’t understand the desire to do something without a result in mind. If there is no positive result in the long term…then I don’t tread to that beat so to speak.)
The more knowledge I gain in life the less I want to spend my energy doing things that lead to fewer results which means I avoid my phone some days, read a book, and try my best to bring a positive impact on the world.
And now we’re at the bottom, and I’m the one with problems
I blame it on the whole damn world
The voice that’s in my head is becoming my best friend
He’s no one to mess with, he said, he said, he said
He said, he said
Climbing that mountain
“People lie, cheat and bully one another and then wonder why they’re unhappy.”
― Marty Rubin
The younger generation enjoys drugs and euphoria because they believe their future has been stripped from them. ( This is a general statement.) They worry about getting texts and little about what their life will be like tomorrow. It is not that we are unhappy, but that we have become consumers in everything we do over being producers in our life.
A shift in the way we live has caused a divide between happiness, peace of mind, and loneliness. Somehow our generation has driven itself to moral destruction. Why should we uphold morals when everyone we see is getting away with doing bad? Moral destruction is the result of us looking at what can make us better people and turning a blind eye to it.
Pretending to like people, insulting others behind their back, being dishonest, filling your mouth with garbage, and tending to all the negativity in your life can only bring negativity.
Politicians are often corrupt, and a nation built on hate crimes instead of love has nowhere to move. The media teaches us that violence is common, sexual abuse is frequent, and overdoses are common. When children hear this on the news we are feeding into negativity.
All of these reasons have a hold on our minds.
If you are looking for the song I quoted here it is: