It is true that we shall grow old as our parents, this generation who has experienced so much transformation, who has lead the wave of digital evolution and social media revolution. We the young people, clad in body art in the form of septum piercings and colorful tattoos. It is true, yes, we represent the new. But what will become of us in the decades to come? As life progresses and our weary is more realized through age, will we still be the leaders of the global perspective? Or will our children take the reigns?
Surely, a new generation will come, one that us millennials will birth. With so much creation all around us in technology, art, media, and science, will we simply pass on the torch or will this collective fire rage within us until we make our earthly exit? Will the millennials will be studied similarly to the counterculturists of the 60s and the grungey rebels of the 90s? What will be our textbook definition? What will we be known for as our contribution, when the millennial sits in antiquation?
We are a passionate bunch with a touch of defiance and an honest dose of empathy. We call the world how we see it. We have gotten so used to seeing everything and everybody at their best even if in reality it does not exist continuously as such. Through quadrilateral frames we express who we are and how we relate, so much of ourselves written in digital ink becoming saturate. Sometimes I wonder whether we all take the time to feel the things around, share a love and enjoy the weather without a care for fortune or fame... sometimes I wonder if in our old age will we look back and wish we had taken the scenic route? Yet we are programmed for efficiency, who has time for such luxuries? We are surely on a freeway back and forth. Does that leave us without direction or skills to navigate? Does the heart inside the millennial work more like the brain, with synapses and memories and receptors all the same?
Will we still be on Earth? Will we reside in nursing home suites on Mars? Could we teleport or ride our space cars to our children's soccer games? Will we still stand tall, and shout with might at injustice? Or will we just grow weary, weary of stimulation and change... in our old age, will we regret not grasping onto the moments and the days that make us feel most alive? Will we work ourselves to permanent exhaustion and exist in limbo, somewhere between death, and remember our own parents as they struggled to adapt to the times? Will our wisdom help us appreciate or haunt us like a nightmare? I swear there's not an emptier feeling than to no longer be needed for the work you do or by someone/thing you love. Will we even need to type, text, tweet with fingers? Can we talk telepathically through advanced brains or microchips implanted? Will we update our snapstories with our three meals a day, staring out the window while the new children play? What will become of us... when we millennials become obsolete?
One thing is for sure...we will love our children and teach them to be fearless. Expression will know no boundaries. The world may come together. The fate of the world is determined everyday yet it cannot be denied that the youths of the world will always play their song and hear their beat. They'll sing and dance not for followers but for spirit. They'll laugh at our obsession with screens and materials...they just may be the ones to save the world. To prevent self-destruction, to cleanse society of vice, to breathe a fresh air that warms our hearts when they call out mom or dad. Maybe then we will know our parents sorrows of sacrifice, maybe then we will finally thank our elders for never giving up on a youthful dream. Maybe then we will find heaven around and tears of joy will be restored. The millennial will one day expire, but we still have time left to inspire a whole new wave of stars fallen down, teach these little ones to prance atop the ground. We'll tell them to be honest that's the least we can do, before we depart we have parenting to do.
I wish us all the heavens and stars, to grant attention instead of suck it dry in selfish retreat... we will face the final curtain, wave goodbye to all we see...this when the millennial becomes obsolete.