Gen Y - aka the longest blog ever

* Beware of poor grammar - read as your own risk *

In grade school my class was given a group assignment. Each group was to pick a decade starting in the year 1900 and do a report about the most important events. Without fail every group wanted to be the 1960’s. It was the cool decade of our parents. - time of Woodstock, Beat-nicks, activism, war and so much more. People seemed to stand for something. Huge political movements took place and it was a time to us kids that seemed, cool.

As I have grown older I have been unimpressed with my generation: Gen Y. I haven’t been impressed with the pop culture we endured in the 80’s. Fraggle Rock, Care Bears, crazy (although lovable) rock ballads and pop music. Movies seemed to be pretty cheesy. Although I was young during this time – in retrospect it seemed like a culture that was obsessed with status. At least that is my impression based on movies I have seen. The deep dive into cultural difference was The Breakfast Club – nice movie but not the stuff history is made of.

To me the 90’s weren’t much brighter until…grunge music! Finally! What our generation was waiting for to stand up against our parents the way they rebelled from theirs. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains…the list goes on. When I think about it – these groups and this lifestyle was the first time that is crept into my mind that we all don’t have to be robotic corporate drones that pay into a system that may ultimately fail us. But the thought was fleeting and I moved forward doing exactly what was expected of me.

I was being honest when I said that in the past I have been unimpressed, but I have to admit that I am being to really change my mind. Gen Y is poised to cause a huge paradigm shift that is going to change the entire country. As you read this sentence the influence of Gen Y is changing the work force. Come November this generation is going to be a huge reason that a hopeful, Black man is going to sit in the oval office. It is my recent personal belief that Gen Y is the very first generation that is actively trying to seek their proper path in life. These beliefs are almost entirely contradictory to everything we have been taught by our parents, religions, government and schools, but we are changing the mind set – the purpose of life in the most powerful nation in the world.

How is it that the generation of people born in the year when ET was the number one movie in the box office is going to accomplish this feat? Simple: mindset. How did this group develop a mindset that may have a global impact? Well, the answer to that is to take a trip back in time. Keep reading and you will learn why this is the first generation in the history of mankind who will be free.

I’m only going to go back in time as far back I have heard about – as far back as when the United States started to become a diverse nation. My maternal great grandparents arrive on Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. They came over from Italy with nothing but a hope for a life better than what they had at home. They migrated to ghettos with people who shared their language and customs. When they weren’t being discriminated against because of their origin they worked demeaning and grueling work – the men only, of course – in order to sustain a family.

Family was the most important thing to them because of their heritage, but also, I imagine, because they didn’t have much of anyone else around. Also, technology was limited and even if it weren’t they certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway. So “family night” was every night.

Like almost every couple of that time – they had children and usually more than a couple. This generation, our grandparents were raised with the morals and the principles of the old country, but they assimilated into the new culture. They worked very, very hard because they didn’t want their parents hard work and trek to a new life to be in vein. Our grandparents where raised with religion – every last one of them and they also inherited a sense of family which now may seem suppressive.

They too had children – more than a couple most of the time but little did they know that this group of children would be the first to push the moral and social envelope.

The further you are removed from the country of origin the further it seems you get from religion in many cases. Our parents may not have gone to church every Sunday for their entire lives. Our parents tried to built a life the is reminiscent of the lives our their parents but is a society that was rapidly changing. They felt required to maintain the same values in a time where they were less relevant and harder to keep. Women were able to work outside of the homes. It was socially acceptable to have a job, social and home life. However, the expectations where the same as if a women didn’t have all of that surrounding her.

They were truly a generation of war. Their fathers often veterans for WWII and their brothers and cousins fighting a disaster in Vietnam – it seemed like every family had at least someone who had been enlisted. They finally had a taste of freedom. The protested, they watched Civil rights become a reality – they wanted to give peace a chance.

It almost seems like women of this generation felt bad not doing it all because it was a form of ingratitude not to accomplish things their mothers never got the opportunity to achieve.

Needless to say – the same results as prior generations where impossible to maintain. Just like their parents they were loyal to companies for decades only to be laid off before they were eligible for a pension (pension? What’s that? Exactly). They got married young as their parents did – but there were far too many options available for them to be happy just with getting married. So what happened? Half of them got divorced. As I type this the Bill Joel song “Scenes from and Italian Restaurant” is coursing through my head. It sums up the story of our parent’s generation so have a listen.

What is strange to me is that these peace-loving individuals now seem to be in support of the war in Iraq. I asked my mother about that and she said that I wouldn’t understand because I didn’t have children yet. Only time will tell if she is right.

Anyway, this long trail of history leads to us…Gen Y…the topic of this essay. This part is going to be the easiest to explain because I am it! So Gen y had the opportunity to witness some crazy things that were very formative to us. First we saw our parents work day and night for unappreciative companies. We saw them never really seem actually happy in the purest sense of the word. We saw them fail at marriage – in many cases fail at parenthood and be generally overwhelmed and under prepared.

Does that seem hash? I’m sure not everyone’s parents have failed them – but if you are really honest with yourself - and if your parents were really honest with themselves…not very many would say that they ever found their purpose in life. Maybe Oprah but that might be it.

We witnessed first hand that everything our parents where taught by their parents who where taught by their parents…well…failed. So what did we do with that knowledge? Well first we stifled it. We went to high school. Tried to discover ourselves but only wound up feeling self-conscious and unsure. What did we do next with that gem we know is true? Well…we then buried it deep down inside. We went to college – studied NOT what we loved but what we thought would make us money and give us the best shot at becoming independently wealthy. Then – really – what did we do? Well…we shoved it a little further down – took a job that applied as closely as we could to our major. Tried to get paid as much as we can (which wasn’t as much as we deserved) and we slaved away – doing the right thing – until we…FINALLY heard our souls crying out. Seriously…it was probably audible – I think mine was. We saw the past fail but we were so socialized to believe that was the only way that we were forced to try it out and see it fail first hand.

And now we are getting closer to why we are a revolutionary generation. We, my friends – remember this part – we want to find our purpose in life. As a collective mass of people – we want to do (gasp) what makes us happy! No kidding.

Everyone I know…ok…start over…most everyone I know that is in their mid to late 20’s is actively trying to figure out what their path is to happiness. Not their path to the bank but a path to fulfillment. I asked my mom about it the other day. I asked her when she was my age if she and her friends ever questioned their purpose. Every wondered if there was more they should be doing to become happier. Her answer surprised me – the answer was no.

That is what going me thinking – got me going back in time…why didn’t she think that way? And just as important why do I? I really believe we should be grateful for our parent’s strife. It is because of them – and only because of them that we were able to change our way of thinking. We are beginning to change priorities – goals – definitions of success. Does anyone else believe this is freaking HUGE? I think this is a giant revolutionary leap.

I have to believe as more and more people my age start searching for their paths this country and soon after the world, is going to change. We are going to raise our children with these standards (if we choose to have them).

This observation has made me very hopeful. It makes me understand that I am not the only one whose objective is happiness – not social approval. But won’t it be a great day when capturing happiness - finding our purpose - was the ultimate achievement and got the stamp of social approval?