Dreams of Laur

Do you ever wonder how the world could have changed so much from when you were a kid? I do. The world advances, it grows. But somehow, I feel left behind. I often talk with other millennials and we seem to share the same feelings.

As a 90s kid, I grew up with a pretty free childhood. I have vivid memories of running around barefoot in the grass transported in some make-believe world. We were promised that we had our whole lives ahead of us. A good education. A good job. A house. A wonderful life. It wasn’t a lie at the time, but it certainly isn’t true now.

From the 90s to the 2000s technology made leaps and bounds. Because my generation grew up through this transitional period, we also grew up learning and adapting to it. Thanks to this we are all very intuitive when it comes to all new forms of technology to this day. But is also feels a little like a curse. Generations before us adapted to this technology a little later in life and the new generations have always had it in their lives; I’m not saying this doesn’t come with its own troubles and struggles, but it is a very different fight than the battle we face.

We are cursed with memories of a purer, simpler childhood that the generations before us had, but are now burdened with the expectations to conform to this new digital society. Having this constant connection to the past has embedded us with a strong sense of nostalgia. We long for the old times, but have nowhere to escape to.

Many millennials are riddled with a various collection of mental illnesses. We feel anxious and depressed in a world that turned out to be very different than the one we were promised. Our destiny seems to be inheriting the mistakes that our predecessors created: the destruction of our planet, wars, economic failure.

We go to university or college, maybe both. We get a degree or two and we can’t get a “professional” job, and are too often asked to work for free as interns. Due to our low income and fleeting future prospects we ditch our dreams of everything else. What’s the point? Why save for a house if I’ll never be able to afford one anyway? We stop spending money on useless things like fabric softer cause it is less important than food. We feel stuck and out of place. We are told to try harder. Put more effort in. Things don’t work like they used to. What past generations did isn’t valid in today’s day and age. Everything is different. The world works differently.

In order to help cope in this world we cling to all the things we loved as children. Still harbouring a deep love of cartoons, video games, and all things vintage, we search to fill the void. We cling to our childhood ways because anything different is too painful to face.

Every generations has their struggles, this is ours. We are the sad and nostalgic generation, constantly trying to find our place between our past and future to live in the present.

Love,

Lauren

Featured photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash