THIRTY REASONS

{ that’s not true }

OUR THIRTIES

{ wait for Pt. III : see what I mean }

ARE WEIRD

{ … }

AS F.

{ Thirties. Right now, as we speak, the biological age of “The ’30’s” — I apologize, in advance, if anyone perceived this to be about the 1930’s, which really wasn’t that weird … but almost equally as tragic — is a true Phenomena. International, Technological, Cultural, Economical, Political: being ’30 during the latter teens of the Millennium is quite harrowing + requires the emergence of a completely new Cultural Identity. }

This is a 3 Part Post : 30 Reasons Our Thirties, in 2017, are Weird. As F.
I will publish in 3 installments — possibly a week apart, possibly more. { I can’t say. I’m a confused 30-something: give me some space. } Whilst reading, you will either completely relate, + I will give Voice to our Unidentified Generation. Or — possibly And — you will deem me crazy. With outdated cultural references, an over-reliance on “Mean Girls,” shoddy extended metaphors, an illegible Writing Voice { hey I’m not gonna’ change that }, and someone who is clearly incredibly neurotic + insecure about her ’30’s. … But hey, at least I can admit it.

. 18 ? . 25 ? . 32 . ?  {  . . .   }  Nobody knows … The older I get : the more likely I chalked my ID .  {  . . . }  This is my Life .

Thirty Reasons your Thirties, in 2017, are Weird. AF. 

In condescending order of importance.

30. Friends. What the actual f. 

By the way — a totally outdated buzz-phrase. { I’d have to get my PhD. in BuzzFeed Linguistics if I wanted to know the on fleek version … andtheregoesmy’20’somethingreadhership . } “Friends,” possibly “How I Met Your Mother” is  >> Everyone’s << greatest reference for Life in your ’30’s. … FYI: “Friends'” ’30’s is not Our ’30’s. I’m sure it semi-worked for ’30-somethings 15-ish years ago. … But the whole crux of this Series is that The ’30’s of 15+ years ago has become Legend — wait for it — Dary. It ceases to exist. It is no longer. The Limit DNE. Times, they are a changin’.

TBH, ’30’s is the new ’20’s. And not in a totally carefree, party, travel-the-world kind of way. … And it is so much more.

29. TV + Film, overall. Magical Realism?? Idek.

Screw “Friends,” because we got bigger problems. … Like … let’s take “Old School,”. What in the actual age are those main characters? Is Mitch implied to be … 25? I refuse to re-watch the movie for the 24th time or to even Google Search to find out. Because — you know — the fact that I have to, proves that these characters portray Any-Age. Obscure-Age. Some magical age that can cover anywhere between 25-45.

We have far greater representation problems in both TV + Film for this to warrant grave concern … but the actual ’30’s — at least 1st half of the ’30’s — get no representation in film or TV. … Unless I’m missing something.

• { Context: I haven’t owned a TV for 4+ years, which also severely limits my film viewing, since I don’t have trailers pushed into my face every 3-5 or 5-7, or whatever, minutes. #unreliablenarrator ?? }

28. Thirties is the New Twenties. Sorry not Sorry Meg Jay.

I have no research. Just epistemological life experience. And some Logic: Generation Wikipedia { solid }, is my reference point.

FAIR WARNING – This some PhD thesis-ish, so gear-up … or skip: your call.

• Baby Boomers { b. 1946 – 1964 } : Axiom — they had children in their 20’s, sometimes early ’30’s; ergo teenage years were the time to >> galavant << if you will.
  •  Personal Proof: my parents.
  • Societal Proof: May I also cite : Dazed & Confused — “If I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life — remind me to kill myself.” — Randy “Pink” Floyd … Which is exactly the entire movie’s premise: live now, while you can in high school, because you’re not cool enough to pull off a Wooderson, who is basically pathetic beneath a thin veneer of … “a lot cooler if you did,”. I mean … I think Wooderson is bomb; but then again, I — and most likely you — would not want to be him #IRL.

{ So much generational code-switching. }

• Generation X { b. late 1970’s – early 1980’s } : Axiom — this generation paved-the-way for Emerging Adulthood; ergo, the ’20’s became a time (“distinguished by relative independence from social roles and from normative expectations,” [Arnett, 2000],) to >> galavant << …

a.k.a.: party hearty like Baby Boomers’ teen-years.

• Analogy: Adolescence didn’t emerge until the late-1800’s. The term didn’t become lexicon until the 1920’s. Significance?? Fifty-ish years passed wherein entire generations carved-out a culture & a lifestyle, before having a word with which to name it. …

Same thing has happened now: it’s called “Emerging Adulthood,”
and it’s spearheaded by Gen X-ers.

• Personal Proof: Cool thing? While “Emerging Adulthood” might not make it into our lexicons for decades to come … it is widely accepted that the ’20’s is an acceptable time to party, figure out your career, wait to get married and have children, etc.

In response to Jay’s TED Talk 2013: it’s not that our ’20’s are an excuse for “benign neglect,”. It is that the ’20’s have become an acceptable and empowering time to Harness Personal Identity + Make Big Fat Mistakes, as opposed to following the algorithm that calculates our Baby Boomer parents’ foot-steps.

• Millennials { b. early 1980’s – mid 1990’s } : Axiom — We’re the same generation, and there exists a grave difference between First-Half Millennials + Second-Half. There exists some sort of undefined gap. Ergo: first-half Millennials have the now-responsibility of redefining the ’30’s. … You’re welcome second-half Millennials. 
  • Analogy: First-half Millennials are doing to the ’30’s what Gen X-ers did for the ’20’s.
  • Cultural Proof: Wait for #1 to come out … . Okay, but to tease: Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012. Social Media transitioned from a tool, to the foundations. From a trend, to the convention. … If you don’t Social Media … you don’t socialize. … Oh, and the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008. Many people { me! } from the 1st half of this generation graduated college at this time. Many from the 2nd half weathered high school and graduated college, say, five years later in 2012, during an economic recovery. { Hey — it wasn’t a Boom or a Bull, but it was significantly better than ’07. }
  • Explanation: You know, the times — they keep changing! First-Half Millennials are now responsible, like Gen X-ers. We have the onus of redefining the ’30’s … before it’s even given credit and context.
  • The Bubble Effect: This is Barbara Ellen terminology, + when this post goes viral { never }, I want full credit for that term.

… Picture a bubble. Now picture a bubble being made. It takes a hella lot more energy to blow the bubble, then to rest comfortably inside of it… Like Gen X-ers, First Half Millennials are blowing the hell out of this bubble. To redefine what the Weirdo ’30’s is.

• Logic Proof: So —
  1. IF Baby Boomers had the Teen Years to Party + { try to } establish a Personal Identity, AND if Gen X-er’s redefined The Twenties to Party + { try to } establish a Personal Identity … THEN it follows, such that First-Half Millennials redefine the next sequential generation: The Thirties. To — what? — you ask: to ….
     • That’s the problem … and what I hope to resolve through this Post Series. That’s the crux!
  2. First-Half Millennials are to Second-Half Millennials as Gen X-ers are to all Millennials.
     • Gen X-er’s redefined the ’20’s, and paved the way for all Millennials to have this “Emerging Adulthood” context. First-Half Millennials are paving the way for Second-Half Millennials to have some sort of evolved context for their ’30’s.

(pic: i.e. of puppies or something to calm — { post -edit : this never happened . click link instead . } )

27. “Dirty Thirty.” … I don’t get it.

Etymology behind that? Urban Dictionary has not helped to clarify.

26. Milestones. Lemme break it down:

1. ‘Tweens have 13. { Or something like that … they’re young, so proportionally to their age, 1 milestone is enough }.
2. Spolied-ass Adolescents have: 15, 16, 18. { But you still can’t drink legally, so there losers. }
3. Twenty-somethings have: 21, 25 … and the entire decade of their ’20’s. { Seriously, get to know yourself: be young, be wild/dope, be free … in the words of the great Lana del Rey (apologies for her #culturalappropriation / #culturalappropriatetrigger / #culturalappropriatewarning) … and in more than 1 of her songs. }
4. WTF do ’30-somethings get? … { Dirty Thirty? … No. }

I used to negotiate this by prescribing to both the tacit + also extolled fact that, ’30’s are the best years of your life!, and, You figure it all out in your ’30’s. … But that some BS.

Hence: First Half Millennials pave the way / redefine / Bubble Effect this-ish.

25. Mental Visualization. … Can anyone actually picture their ’30’s?

I can’t. It’s some cloudy, obscure bubble. Which really worries me. I’m quite visual. I could always picture my teens and twenties. { Duh, because a) teens are so conventionally defied by high school and college and b) because antithesis of #28: they got     w   i   d   e    TV/film representation. Shout-out to “Broad City.” Werk. } … I can even picture my ’40’s, ’50’s, ’60’s, etc.. But ’30’s? Nope. I’m going to need some Virgil to get me through this faceless limbo cloud.

24. BuzzFeed. … Am I your audience … or nah. Because: I know the ’90’s quite effortlessly. But also … this. And this. … And also, finally, this.

23. If not BuzzFeed, then … ? I’m not sure. { That’s the point! }

Then, what, PopSugar? I am not that old yet. >> It’s a formatting thing. <<  Like, get that professional-sleek-basic style outta my face. And I refuse to be pushed into thinking I’m that old { read: put together } because Society — and therefore Pop Culture — hasn’t figured it out yet, either.

22. Snapchat is causing an Existential Crisis. Not required to Snapchat, yes.

As a ’30-something, it’s completely normal + appropriate + perhaps looked-up upon if I never once SnapChat, in my life?? Not to say it’s wrong if you do SC { or whatever the “fleek” kids are saying } as a ’30-something. I look up to you, if you do: for you have evolved; you have kept with the times. Am I Luddite because I haven’t, and don’t want to?? In the words { not true } of Henry David Thoreau: What the f even is my life.

“To be awake is to be alive,” -Thoreau, “Walden” … #nonsequitor

21. Redefining the ’30’s. The ’30’s aren’t something past. They’re something new.

The ’30’s require us to do, essentially, the impossible. Create New Matter.

First, let’s recap. The ’30’s hold a complex duality: They are —

• Economically Like the ’20’s. They’re similar to post-Baby Boomer ’20’s in the sense that — largely for economical reasons — many ’30-somethings are just beginning to establish financial independence, and — either ergo or by no causation at all — many of us aren’t committed to marriages and/or children … AND
• Socially Unlike the ’20’s. They’re dissimilar to post-Baby Boomer ’20’s in the sense that — it’s still pretty widely accepted that ain’t nobody a “real,” functioning “adult” if they’re partying in their ’30’s, they way many of us >> galavanted << in our ’20’s. Now, you’re just the Wooderson of our generation.

So … What are ’30-somethings supposed to accomplish? What are our benchmarks? What defines our decade??

It seems all to be quite nebulous. Things like:

• Harnessing an Identity
• Honing your Voice
• Furthering a Career

Don’t get me wrong. I love Core Values. I love non-material, internal — as opposed to external — things. I Prioritize them as the Highest Values in my Life. … And, yet I’m still confused. Gah!!!

Brain / Life Cramp.

{ That’s it for now, foo’s. Tune in for Pt. II + Pt. III — it only get’s less academic + way more relatable, so — talk soon. }

#shoplocal
{ because , always }

#30sareweird

#af

X.