I'm not even in my twenties anymore!!!

[raeschae]

So, I was almost offended when someone in my office suggested I should read this article in The New York Times Magazine this morning: "What Is It about 20-Somethings?" In it, the 20-something generation is described as "the post-adolescent, pre-adult, not-quite-decided life stage." It asks the question, "Why are so many people in their twenties taking so long to grow up?" and also claims that the large portion of this generation "who don't commit to a relationship or a career or a home of their own are simply acting their age."



My first instinct was to say, "Man, I'm thirty. That doesn't apply to me!" And then I read it. I don't often link you guys to much, but if you're in your twenties (or are just trying to understand someone who is), I recommend you check this one out.

If the article isn't something that you're remotely interested in, you might want to check out the photography that goes along with it. There are so many awesome pictures that I kind of want icons of most of them! Below are just a few examples:



And my favorite:





Also, I'm now craving twenty-something 'coming of age' style stories. I love a good HS or College AU, but I want something a little older this time, if you know of anything. (Feel free to pimp your own work, too!)

ETA: Also, I'm so excited for this! I don't know if I'll fill any prompts, there's one I want to fill, but it might get taken before I get around to it. Still, check it out because (in my opinion) there can never be enough sex industry fic!

Comments

[mementis.livejournal.com]

You're right, the pictures are gorgeous and especially the last one.

[raeschae.livejournal.com]

Right? Guh. Most of them were taken by 20-something photographers in NYC on their iPhones. There's a gallery at the website that just blows me away, too.

[iniq.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to that article! ♥ I'm really glad you did that. I wouldn't have found it otherwise. I'm definitely going to hunt up some of those books the article quotes. I loved the interviews.

... and I totally agree with the 20-something coming of age style story. So many possibilities! Imagine all the things the characters could be. I've got a list of "and one day I'll write a story where" jobs. And in one of them, Jensen's a diver. You know, one of those photographers and cameramen that film for underwater documentaries. He could show off a scar. Jared may or may not be a biologist... *g*


>_> Also, sex industry fic scares me. It's written so often (almost always?) with this incredible power imbalance that I just can't seem to stomach. I'm curious to see your take on that! :D

[raeschae.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't know if I'm going to have a take on it. Lord knows I have enough other stories I'm supposed to be writing at the moment! If I get around to it, though, I'll link it back to this page.

I'm glad you dug the article - I thought it was fascinating and said, in words a lot more eloquent than I could, how so many people I know feel about their lives in general!

[iniq.livejournal.com]

I just saw that Robin Marantz Henig was the one who wrote the Anxiety article. I'd totally forgotten about that, but I read it last year when it came out. That one's really interesting, too.

[(Anonymous)]

“to think about all the things I’m supposed to be doing in order to ‘get somewhere’ successful: ‘Follow your passions, live your dreams, take risks, network with the right people, find mentors, be financially responsible, volunteer, work, think about or go to grad school, fall in love and maintain personal well-being, mental health and nutrition.’ When is there time to just be and enjoy?”

This sums it up for me exactly. im about to turn 23, and i feel like i need to live my 20s three times over in order to do all the things im "suppposed to do" and all the things i want to do in this 10 year span. it really is an interesting time of life - sometimes i still feel like im 17, and yet in 16 months im going to graduate from medical school (hopefully) which means that at age 24, for the first paid job i have ever had, i will be fully trained and qualified to defibrillate another human's heart, or deliver their baby, or cut out an appendix, and yet i still live at home and i dont even know how to pay taxes or any of the other "adult" stuff! which is insane!

having said that, most humans adapt really quickly when we have to, and "grow up" in whatever areas we need to when we need to (though some never do) and so i dont think its a bad thing to just take this time to try to figure it all out. thankfully my parents can support me, and my siblings (tho i feel bad about it so im really looking forward to being able to support myself)

anyway, enough about me. thanks for the rec, it was fascinating, and im kinda glad that there are others out there who feel like i do;) its comforting

looking forward to the new fic!

[raeschae.livejournal.com]

sometimes i still feel like im 17, I'm thirty and sometimes I still feel like this. I'm not sure that ever goes away. I look around at my friends who are married and have kids, who have hit all of those milestones that the article was talking about, and I find myself thinking, "Wait, we're not ready for this - we're not old enough to be grown up!"

having said that, most humans adapt really quickly when we have to, and "grow up" in whatever areas we need to when we need to I think this is a great point. I'm not sure anybody actually grows up before they have to. Sadly, I think some kids have to do it way too young, and some adults have never had to do it at all. I think the Peter Pan mentality is more natural; even when we feel like we want to grow up and stretch the limits of our independence, I think it's more common than not that we would like to do that while still leaving the responsibility and day-to-day maturity of adulthood out of the equation.

I'm really glad you liked the article - like you, I found it fascinating. And a good distraction from work, which I didn't need but sometimes welcome. ;)

[katiebugs18.livejournal.com]

I'm thirty and sometimes I still feel like this. I'm not sure that ever goes away. I look around at my friends who are married and have kids, who have hit all of those milestones that the article was talking about, and I find myself thinking, "Wait, we're not ready for this - we're not old enough to be grown up!"

I feel the exact same way. I just turned 30 and I'm like 'shouldn't I have done a, b, c, d?' or 'how can my friends be [insert supposed milestone]'. I try to remind myself that all these milestones are arbitrary and that I don't even want to meet some of them (I have no desire to have kids) but sometimes...sometimes it's just disheartening. Especially when I still constantly ask myself 'what do I want to be when I grow up?'

I'm gonna stop whining now. Thanks for the link. :)

[raeschae.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome - I'm glad you liked (and related to) the article!

My twenty-five-year-old little sister just had her first baby, making me the only sibling in my family that has not yet hit the arbitrary 'married with children' milestone. I'm also the oldest. It's such a weird thing to look around and realize you're not "normal" - though it's kind of liberating to think that maybe the definition of normal is changing a little bit.