The Youngsters and my generation

I have to get this off my chest. As I said yesterday, the twenty-somethings can be demoralizing if you think about them too much.

So, there were the twenty-somethings at Flipnotics the other evening. Talking about their investments for heavens' sake! Can they really be so together that they are already planning THAT far ahead? Maybe this is just a repeat of the dot-com phenomenon and the market is on everyone's mind at the moment because it's doing alright. Definitely, THAT is what I am choosing to think. Otherwise, I'm not sure I could take it in :)

Then, there is my friend's son who spent time in the Peace Corps before recently getting into the London School of Economics in an interdisciplinary program to do with law, economics and anthropology. He studied cultural anthropology in undergrad and hopes to combine his understanding of humans and culture to work for the World Bank or the State Department or even some multinational corporation.

I believe the middle-aged/old white men who have been in charge for the last decades are completely ignorant of the degree to which the inside of people's head--their values, attitudes, religious beliefs, etc--impacts the global geo-political landscape. They just think military action is the be-all, end-all fix-it for any global issues. Take a hammer and smash it seems to be the modus operandi most apparent these days.

Clearly we have gone way beyond the boundaries of effectiveness of that particular solution to the world's problems at least as I see it. So, this young man is going into what I believe will be a very timely, relevant field as the aforementioned demographic retire or die off.

Then another friend's daughter just got back from a year in London studying filmmaking. Very prestigious program. Another's daughter and son-in-law spent time in the Peace Corps, came back to Austin where he finished graduate school while she pursued, fairly successfully, her dream of being an actress. Now they are in New York where she continues to pursue the dream, succeeding in fits and starts.

Then the young man who lives in the basement apartment spent a year abroad in school. His Dutch girlfriend is coming to live here next month.

Obviously, they are so much more global citizens than we even thought of being. They are doing SUCH cool things. It seems so different from when I was that age. But, truth to tell, the possibilities are expansive even for us mid-life women. Think about it.....

Maybe it's a little late for me to get into a program at London School of Economics (I would SO have been all over that in my 20s!) but we also have an amazing time in history in front of us. We live longer, are healthier, have more financial resources in general than our parents did. Many of us women have been working most of our adult lives and have a lot of professional expertise and intelligence to put out there. Most women I know seem to experience a surge of renewed energy about mid 40s. The question What's Next comes up a lot!

We are forging new ground in so many ways. What are we going to do with it? We are a huge demographic with so many skills and so much experience. We do have some constraints many of us and yet, we are used to juggling a million things.

Hmmm, maybe I've talked myself out of the demoralizing story.....we aren't 20ish (thank goodness in many ways I say!) but we have our own landscape of possibilities that are pretty exciting!

Whew, I feel better now :)