You Are Not A 20-Something, You Are YOU

I am confused, I am confused why we have to make excuses, label ourselves, and find “community” struggles. It is great to feel like you’re not alone in the world, but has this label done more damage than good?

It is ok to be confused, depressed, unemployed, it is ok because you’re a 20-something and guess what ALL twenty somethings go through this. You know what I say to that-bullshit.

How can we all relate when our experiences are so subjective, how can we all connect if we’re all “so different.” When have labels exceeded life? Do labels actually say MORE about life? That despite our differences there is an inner connection we all share, that we all feel alone and deep down we all wonder if “life” is all its cracked up to be. I think there is something beautiful and destructive about labels. Clearly the popularity of this “group” ideal has persisted through online resources, social media sharing, etc. The “group think” theory has never proven more real than a scroll through my newsfeed.

Honestly, I’m sick of being labeled. I’m sick of meshing myself in the melting pot with other 20-somethings who hate their jobs, real life- adult life. Honestly I think this just gives me an excuse to be lazy, to avoid responsibilities, to feel that my childhood should persist through my adulthood. I don’t want to be labeled, because I am not like everyone else. You are not like everyone else. I am a recent college graduate, an aspiring writer. I do not need to be told who I am and what my struggles should be. I am different from you, my vision is different from you, and while there is a “group” relation because we are all human, there is destruction- we are stereotyping ourselves.

Your indifference tells me to be cynical; my cynicism tells you that you are wasting your life. How many things do we need to read, to be brainwashed by, before someone speaks up about individuality-and the lack there of?

Who are YOU? What are YOUR struggles? You are not a 20-something you are YOU.

Don’t associate yourself with the mockery of social media and its unrelenting pressure to be a 20-something. In 10 years we will be 30-somethings and someone else on some other website will tell us how to raise our families, what jobs we should have, and what our average day should look like.

Online resources are beautiful; we are all on this site because we want to feel a connection-to know we are not alone. Online sharing is not a bad thing; the bad thing is to feel that what someone else writes is how you should live. Take everything with a grain of salt; take labels with a grain of salt because they are only a tiny drop in the ocean of who you are and what you’re capable of.

I am not a 20 something, I am 23 years old and struggle everyday with finding my voice in the world. I am disheartened by violence and evil, yet I know it is a part of life. I examine everything, I over analyze situations, through this I realize nothing is simple, it is all an act in the play of “life.” I feel strongly about individuality and not only my own, but everyone else’s.

We are not 20-somethings, we are people, individual people with a story, a perspective, and 20(some) years worth of knowledge. We connect based on our age and our struggles, but you are not I and I am not you so why are we so concerned with being one “label.”