Tuesday, September 8, 2015

In Defense of a Generation

A little while ago, I had a conversation with a lovely woman who is absolutely disgusted with my generation. She did not fail to tell me this... multiple times. I'll be honest; at first I agreed with her. There are more than a few habits of we 90's babies that can definitely 'suck' if you look at them wrong.

1. We move back in with Mom & Dad

"Freeloaders, lazy, childish" seems to be the general consensus among the people who aren't in the middle of this financial crisis we've bought into. For us, though, it's not about being lazy. To the people being affected by not being able to afford a higher education without grabbing an extra backpack of debt along with those books, living at home is a way to maintain a little financial freedom in this crazy world. Even if it means sharing the TV. We are so grateful that you are not tossing us out on our pizza boxes into Real Life (even if we don't know it yet). You can be sure we'll buy you that forest cabin once we have the money, because it won't be going into our credit card debt from those hard start up years. Love you, parents!

2. We are "Purpose-Driven"

This was one of this lovely woman's largest complaints. I tried hard to think of why this was negative, but I came up empty. In this day and age, there are so many options and opportunities. How does a person ever get anything done during this Dawn of Distraction without finding a way to focus on consecutive tasks at hand? Perhaps I am looking at this one wrong, suggestions, anyone?

3. We are not loyal

Respect us, and we will be. In this age where the Importance of Ego is all around us, we know when we are being mistreated, and will take a stand. We are fiery, educated, and aware- which is precisely what makes us such great innovators. We are not the perfect followers, but we can help lead you to grand places.

4. We don't do what we are told

We are told absurd things on a daily basis and expected to believe them. We are jaded, just like you. We see the danger in the direction things are going and will not stand for them.
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anaïs Nin


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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Craving the Nineties

The entire season of 'Friends' recently appearing on Netflix. Hindsight on Vh1. Everything you see in Forever 21. Seem Familiar?That's right; it's the nineties!

It's like my childhood all over again! And yes, we did all see it coming even before Iggy Azalea's Clueless Tribute... I was slow to accept it because well let's face it, there were some fashion trends that called for eyeball bleach. Luckily, I haven't seen any colorblocked tracksuits making a comeback, so there seems to be hope that maybe we can do it a little better this time if fashion history is to repeat itself. 

The People Who Make the Decisions (In this case I think I'm blaming Mary-Kate & Ashley) sure are feeling rather reminiscent for the era of jelly shoes and flannel shirts. The upside here is that I get to feel like I'm an appropriate age to enjoy all the things (and get the jokes) I missed out on for "being too young" back then. But this time, we have iPhones. Still not entirely sure about whether or not that's a good thing; I have a lot of embarrassing moments that are now all that much easier to capture and share. 

 So what do you think? Did you miss the furry coats and crop tops, or are you just longing for something new? Am I only seeing what I want to see? Tell me your piece.


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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Fetch A Quill and Some Ink...

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

You Can Make the Decision Whether to Insert a Frozen Reference Here or Not


Negative feelings kill us. Not immediately, so don't worry about the next time you're flipping off that slow asshole on the freeway,  but slowly. Thoughts that might not feel so good when you take a second to think about them suck our life out.

Not just angry feelings though. Worrying gives us wrinkles; literally aging us. Sadness, or depression, makes us less likely to exercise, taking away our vitality. All of these negative emotions build up and drag us closer to the grave/urn/diamond/whatever. 

So are all of us secretly masochists? If we weren't, surely we would find it easier to let go of these emotions that literally hurt. I know I sure tend to hang on to things I'd really rather let go of, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Why do we do it? I'm not sure. What I do know, is that a little bit of contemplation can go a really long way for a person. Contemplation is mental productivity. Disclaimer: don't just go stew over shit.

What are your hang-ups? What are you trying to get over? What are you doing to get outside of your box? Maybe you aren't doing anything yet? That's okay. All it takes is a minute or two to think about stuff. Cardio is a great time for this.

So here's my challenge to you: give your brain a little workout. Physical activity relieves stress, so why can't mental activity? Think outside of your box. Remove yourself from the situation. Become an objective observer.

Once you work through all of those silly little hang-ups, there's no telling what you can use your new think-muscles toward. Plus, you'll feel better. Everyone likes that.

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We Worry Ourselves to Death

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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Winter la-la land

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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Listening as Kindness

Watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report.  I mean really watch one of these shows. Hell, I'll even make it easy on you-  don't even listen to what they're saying (even though I recommend it; they're great fun!) if you have no desire.

Holy shit. These people actually listen to each other. Not just in the 'smile & nod' way, either. These folks actually have respect for the person with whom they're speaking, and receiving the same respect in return.

Let's face it, being interrupted sucks. Automatically, when someone interrupts, I am already less inclined to listen to what they have to say. Not only when it's me being interrupted, though. I like hearing the end of stories, and missing out on that is a bummer.

The rule I had to give myself was "If you can't remember your comment when your compatriot is finished speaking, it isn't worth saying and people will hate you"

I'm kidding about the people hating you part... They'll just be annoyed.

I read a study (it's really good!) a little bit ago that got me thinking about kindness. How can I be more kind? What habits are unnecessarily unkind? And I don't just mean romantically; even with my family and coworkers.

My Kindness Assessment didn't go over as well as I hoped. There were a few things that definitely fell out of the 'kind' spectrum, and more than a few things that I realized I could be doing. Overall, I gave my self a C+, remembered how over critical I am, and bumped my grade up to a B-. Still not great.

So here is my challenge to you: It's the holiday season; Let's start working on the little things that can make someone's day brighter. Let's not worry about the 'issues' for a while. Let's just start being nice to each other. I bet if we do that long enough, the issues won't even matter.

So what do you say? Will you pledge to be kind with me? Even if it's as simple as waiting a minute to say your thing. In two weeks, if you can honestly say you did your best at eradicating meanness, and being an advocate for kindness, you are not markedly happier then I will admit that I was wrong. You have to put in the effort, though.

So let's get out there and be kind to stuff. What do you say?
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