“You know, when you part of Section.80, you feel like no one can relate/ Cause you are, you are, a loner, loner/ Marijuana endorphins make you stronger, stronger” – A.D.H.D [Kendrick Lamar]

There’s a reason why I constantly refer to Kendrick’s Section.80 album as the Bible, because in terms of being a millennial (born between the years of 1985 & 1995 – whoever you ask), there’s a different mentality that goes on in the psyches of those born in those years, but specifically children born in the latter years of the 80s have similar connections. Now, being that we’re the “crack babies” (Canadian-born may not apply), there are definitely the questions about this specific generation that is featured in every news outlet and online publication almost every week about either: ‘what’s wrong with the “Millennials”’ or ‘why Millennials are the most important generation.’

First of all, let’s just make everything crystal clear – every generation has a stage of evolving, we just happened to grow up in the most technologically advanced era that humanity has seen since the Industrial Revolution (okay maybe a little sooner than that, but you get the idea). The problem that a lot of people have with 20-30 year olds of today is that we have egos and feel as though we can take on the world with so much pride and the fact that we can do what our parents couldn’t do, because of the modern conveniences that we’ve been blessed with.

Second of all, isn’t that something that happens every generation? Doesn’t each generation expect the ones moving forward to be better to find out ways to make it a better place for everyone to live in? Call me crazy, but I don’t think we’re the first generation ever in the history of mankind to have egos, but sometimes it’s being made so. Our attention spans are shorter, our links to the Internet might as well be embedded in our veins since it’s essentially a life resource (for good & evil), and to be locked down in one space (work wise) just isn’t the way that we see things. I read an article today that said that most people don’t have full time jobs. Now, since we all know the ways of the world, the ‘traditional’ way of thinking since the day you stepped into an Educational institutionalized building was: Get your education, get a career, get married, have kids, etc. Now, that still holds true for many people, but in my circle of friends growing up, and even the people I’ve met over the past 5 years through social media, those same values don’t exactly apply. Education is important, yes. But then everything else changes in terms of order of priorities. It’s the career that’s the focus, but settling down and starting a family are usually (and very often so) put on the backburner. I can honestly say that a big part of the reason why a lot of Millennials are single today is that they’re too busy focusing on building a career and even enjoying their lives through travel and other experiences; they’re not trying to be tied down unless the person of interest can match their level of intensity in terms their interests. There are obviously younger people who hold near and dear the ideals of having a traditional life, but that’s a small sample size in comparison to years past, and that’s the knock that Millennials get.

Another thing – uncertainty. We’re dreamers, and we’re also more hot-foot (West Indian term for ‘always on the go’). Being nomad, not necessarily in terms of moving to different places, but because of social media and because of how simple it is to meet people in different areas of the world, there’s literally nothing (barring outside circumstances) that prompts a Millennial to stay within their current box for a long period of time. The general interest of wanting to get out into the world, explore, meet new people, and start their lives elsewhere is another determining factor as to why you see less mutual compliance when it comes to (just as an example) two single people struggling to come to a connection. One wants to build at home base, the other wants to go AWOL (away without location) to an undisclosed island and star in the sequel to Cast Away in real life.

There are pros and cons to every generation. We’re experiencing an era where tolerance of different people as a whole has been at its highest (it would appear) that we’ve ever seen. Yes, that creates hyper-sensitivity because you have to be aware of the feelings of ‘all people’ (this is the instance where the term “All lives matter” would apply), but we still have our issues to work out, because the days of old don’t just stay where they belong. Traditions follow, cultures follow, and where there are glimpses and countless examples of progress, the ugly trail of dark and insufferable ignorance is never far behind. The free-flowing fast-thinking, ego-tripping, mindless-debating, unsettling generation that we live in, is a generation that gains a lot of eyes throughout everyone in terms of how we act, how we see the world, and just how much of an impact we can have when we truly want to get after something. Creating apps, creating new movements, generating important topics of conversation, or being an uncanny source of information and entertainment, it’s quite interesting analyzing the habits of the Millennial, being that I am one. Having a flurry of outlets available to express thoughts and engage in conversation is something that I’m happy to have access too, and having been exposed to the Internet since the age of 10 years old (and computers in general even before that), it’s just second nature and has predicated a lifestyle not only for myself, but millions of others. Is this the way of the world for the future? Who knows? Maybe the next generation will figure out something new.

That’s My Word & It STiXX