What is the generation in-between?
The Generation“ In-Between”
What is the generation in-between?
You have never heard of it? Let me explain it to you. I am referring to a generation of individuals in their late twenties or mid thirties who are still living as they were in their early twenties. The best example to describe this“ new” generation more in detail is me. So yes, for a change let’ s talk about me( again) if you don’ t mind.
Why do I think about all this? There is a simple answer. Because I feel strange sometimes. I have to think about it because I see myself confronted with opposite examples and I compare my life to this other person’ s life then. I know that I should not compare myself to others but honestly admitted I cannot always ignore that. I am an ambitious and competitive woman. There are days when I’ m sitting in my bed with my cup of super hot coffee in the hand on a Saturday morning, looking around my kingdom( my bedroom in a shared house and all my framed little pieces of arts, my books and hundreds of magazines, my notebook, my smartphone, my only( surviving) plant, my shoes and my wardrobe) and I do question myself my dears, why the hell is it so difficult to get a“ normal life”?
What is“ normal”? Normal is so undefined. Why is it that I do not have a“ stino” job( translation stink normal( German)- > stino = perfectly normal), or a great and extraordinary career where men see what I do and not what I wear? Why do I not have a group of very close friends just around the corner of where I live – the famous inner circle – or weekly rituals with my partner, regular holidays to other countries, babies, dogs, cats, and a“ Schrankwand”( wall unit) in the living room. The“ Schrankwand” symbolises to me a person who’ s living a grounded and stable life and has 47 invested into the design of the living room. I respect my“ Schrankwand” friends, I really do but I’ m not like them. I’ d rather have a hundreds of polaroids framed from events, exhibitions, trips and courses or my books, my magazines, my essays and artwork in my room than a“ Schrankwand”. I think I will never have the space for it anyway. This is me and then there are these other gorgeous people in my age group, maybe even a bit younger. Some of them are already married or they have their own family and kids. Nothing is wrong with that – nope absolutely cool. It’ s just that it seems so special in my eyes these days when you achieve all that before turning fourty years old. Yes I’ ve said it, before fourty! Am I a slow person? I think so. I take my time, right? The first grey hairs appear in the meanwhile. And our times have changed. Our times have really changed. On the contrary, who wants to keep everything to status quo? Not me. We are living in a constantly changing world but it’ s not always that obvious when a“ generation” changes. It’ s a smooth process.
So I’ m part of a generation who’ s living in a transition phase and this a little longer than some others usually do. Frankly said, I already had the security package: A secure job, a nice flat, a( cheating) boyfriend and amazing friends. What I didn’ t have was experience, wisdom and open eyes. My inner voice finally got louder and louder when I was 25 and 26 years old. And then there was this one question in my head. How do I become that successful and open minded and international person? That was burning inside of me, you can’ t believe it. The answer was, is simple and complex at the same time. When you leave your comfort zone! Yes, I thought. I wanted to live and travel abroad. I wanted it so much. My job, my flat, my city and my boyfriend were my comfort zone.
Germany was my comfort zone and I needed a challenge. I knew there is so much more out there and that I would regret it later if I didn’ t try and taste it.
That’ s when I left. I came back( for love) but I left my comfort zone once again( following my inner voice). And now here I am. Sometimes, I feel that I’ m stuck in that phase for ages. I feel I just came out of university and got my first or second job but with the knowledge of someone who’ s been working over ten years now. No wonder that some people are still checking my ID every time I buy a bottle of wine. They pay me compliments how fresh my skin looks( genes my friends!). I even had a client on the phone saying if I look so beautiful as my voice sounds on the phone … oh then, well. It is indeed very flattery, very kind. However, I think by myself it’ ll be nicer if I got congratulated on achieving something with a different personal value for me.
For example, on another friendship that’ s lasting a decade, or on keeping a boyfriend who’ s really interested in me( not only in my body, face and maybe curled hair). That would be a nice achievement. Or on organising this huge, huge family gathering that I’ d always wanted but never dared to organise? That’ ll be nice, too. Or what about congratulating me on inspiring the people around me, or on my my new job position that would finally allow me to combine my talents, skills and passions? I get a lot of people motivated and engaged in things they love to do, get the best out of them. I would love to hear that I helped an organisation to get further especially when it comes to leading its people and securing the future of the business. I got congratulation from one of my closest, dearest friend when I decided for a change, when I took a risk. Again. Still, I feel like I’ m in between the big