The Black Eyed Peas have a song called the "Now Generation" which predominantly focuses on our generation's need for immediacy. We want things now. We don't want to wait. There are all these tools out there to allow us to get things now -- Wikipedia, blogs, Facebook, Google, our mobile devices wired with internet, apps and Words with Friends all allow us to get anything we want to know in a matter of seconds. My generation is guilty of having a full blown addiction to the internet and all the insane nows it has to offer. If you can't find something, Google it. Just search the interweb and you'll be hooked up with everything you needed and didn't need to know just by clicking "GO". So what is it about needing everything right now? Why is there so much pressure on the now? Why can't we be patient, get what we need in due time; perform quality research to render valuable results? It's because we're told by society and the media that we just can't wait. Life is too short -- live fast, live hard and get everything you want before it's gone. Because lord knows, that new $1,500 TV is going to be replaced by another $2,000 TV next year, and OH SNAPS, I need that shit NOW.
My generation is so brainwashed by this thing, this plague of immediacy. We rush through things and we burn out and we get frustrated because in life, nothing happens immediately. The internet is our immediate satisfaction because it gives us everything we want, BUT, in life? Life takes time. It's frustrating and challenging and has so many ups and downs that half the time you can't even figure out if you're in a peak or a valley, because either way, something isn't happening right now. Our influence from getting immediate satisfaction is blinding us from what life really is. In life, you don't get things now. You have to work at it, and unless you're insanely fortunate and can warrant being spoiled with everything you need and don't need within a matter of minutes, you're stuck with the rest of us being unsatisfied, unspoiled and annoyed that the key aspects of life don't happen immediately.
Don't worry, I'm not pointing the finger. I'm wholeheartedly guilty of impatience, especially when it comes to my career. After working in a place for 4 years and hitting every single possible peak and valley that I could while working there, I now realize that if I don't feel like I'm in a place that can offer me what I want now, I need to switch. This trend is common in our generation. The average 20 something has about 7 jobs in their 20s, most of which are hopped through within a matter of 2-3 years. It's amazing how we selfishly gobble up a position only to let it go because it doesn't fit. Are we just job hoppers? Are we just too anxious to know what else is out there instead of trying to settle and conform to an environment that might not fit, but you know you can try to squeeze into it despite it being slightly uncomfortable and hideous? I sure think so. I know my angst. It makes my back hurt and I find a pit in my stomach aching because my head and my heart's resistance to conforming to it takes over every muscle in my body (by the way, it really is an awful feeling). The resistance part is interesting. You can feel your whole body just say "No. I don't want to do that," because we're so used to being able to fix dissatisfaction, no matter how big or small, almost instantaneously. But somethings you just can't fix...not instantly at least and it's such a frustrating concept to try to understand.
A highlight of the Peas' song is needing "cold hard cash," obviously NOW since this is the now generation. And honestly, who doesn't want cold hard cash now? I hear the phrase, "If I had a million dollars..." or "If I found a million dollars..." all the time with a whole laundry list of things that person wants to do following. "Expedi-ate and improve my situation." It's amazing how we're all told to think and truly believe that money can solve so many of our problems. Once you have money you can do what you want, when you want, how you want. Earning it? Eh, who cares as long as you just find a way to have it you're set. I'm not going to lie, if a million dollars magically showed up on my doorstep, I'd quit my job in a heartbeat, pay of my bills, travel for a bit and start my own company. I don't like to think I fall into the category of cash cow without at least working for it because I do value the importance of working and contributing to some cog in some wheel to make the world a better, more interesting place. And it's not like I even need a ton of cash -- I just want to have enough to support my future family and my future aspirations (that being a winery catering to a casual environment meant to bring people into a home, enjoy some really good wine and some munchies on top of that (no tools allowed though)). But that concept of needing money is still embedding in my brain. It hits me and I get so frustrated on how many aspects of my life it controls. Why does money have to be such a bossy decision maker?
Well, in America, our capitalist / consumerist / materialist society embeds the "want" in our brains. The "want" being money to buy us what we're told we "need," more money to buy us more things that we "need," and the ultimate goal of having a cash cow cushy life to aspire to all of our hopes, dreams and who knows what else. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what life would be like without all of this pressure? I mean, less than 100 years ago, people still enjoyed life and remembered what it was like to breathe and not kill themselves for something they're not meant to have. On the flip side, industrialism did spark all of this need for things now. Our industrialist forefathers realized efficiency is beneficial -- make things faster and people will be satisfied and more productive. Can you imagine how fast this concept mushroomed? It started with factories, turned into cars, telephones and went lightening speed into computers, the internet and insane mobile devices that give one person entirely too much power.
Half the time, I find myself torn. I aspire to be efficient and adopt all the tools needed to make myself more efficient, but then I crave isolation and cutting off from the "now" just to catch my breath and figure out what the hell it is I'm trying to accomplish. My parents raised me well and there's nothing they could have possibly done to adjust my views on life seeing as all the resources I need to be influenced are so readily available...unless they put me in a cave or something. ... But, they encouraged me to be successful, go to a good school, a great school, ensure that I can stand alone, be financially secure, and not rely on anyone but myself to survive. In theory, this is fantastic advice, but when it comes to life now -- life that demands immediacy -- is the concept of aim for success always now a flawed concept because we lose sight of so many other important aspects of the world and what life in all of its ups and downs has to offer?
I will leave it at that to ponder. ...and get ready to rest upon this idea.
But don't forget to listen to the Now Generation:
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