9.01 | i'm officially "late-30s"
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
– Soren Kierkegaard
✉️ letter #6
There was a meme going around recently about how a lot of "Millennials," a group of which I'm firmly generationally esconced within, often feel adrift and ageless because all of the milestones they'd been taught to mark adulthood with are no longer available to them.
It's been a constant source of societal handwringing - somebody even did a study about it. Basically, we still feel "not quite adult" if we haven't checked the boxes of:
- completing education
- becoming financially independent
- working full-time
- living independently
- getting married
- and having children
Worthy of note: at least according to the study, these milestones are actually the same no matter what social class you're in, though the timing of when certain criteria should be fulfilled differs.
Looking at that listicle, strangely enough, makes me feel less adult myself. I basically achieved the first four (the only ones I wanted to achieve) shortly after college, but I did not feel very adult then. I've improved each of the first four incrementally since then, but that seems more like glossing the berry than some life stage shift.
And since (like much of my generation) I have very much deprioritized getting married or have kids, this leaves me with little of that idea of adulthood to attach myself to going forward.
Maybe the problems are the milestones themselves, which seem more tied to advancing Late Stage Capitalism than any kind of self actualization. So instead of all that, here's milestones I reached over the last 15-or-so years that actually made me feel truly ADULT:
- Getting thanked for doing something someone needed but hadn't yet asked for.
- Looking in the mirror and being extremely comfortable with what I saw.
- Identifying and saying no to a bad situation.
- Getting considered an expert by somebody in something (and not feeling imposter syndrome when it happened).
- Realizing I had a blindspot about some perspective, embracing the discomfort of not being right, and growing myself and my world because of it.
- Supporting and advising a junior that went on to do great things.
- Making a dish for people that everyone agreed tasted awesome.
The nice things about those milestones is that they assume adulting is a continuum rather than a certificate. Each time you hit one, it's a great reminder you're still an Adult, and that you subsequently became a little more Adult... in a good way.
Speaking of that last checkpoint, I made some awesome birthday dishes for my friends this weekend:
🌱 the ethical ideas newsreel
Pieces I've found from around the internets with interesting ideas for sustainability, human health, and diversity (both bio- & people).
- An industrial facility in Iceland is opening that is going to move CO2 from the air into the underground.
- A species of bacteria known as Shewanella oneidensis could help us store energy and create future biofuels.
- An early intervention approach for agricultural drought was tested in Pakistan and Senegal, and may be key for unlocking the aid needed for extreme weather before communities end up suffering.
- For the first time in history, indigenous peoples are finally getting seats at the General Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global consortium that seeks to portect the world's flora and fauna.
- A research team in the UK has been developing ways children can learn how to tell their own stories on climate change, possibly an integral step for empowering them to take action.
🎵 song of my week
Halfway through cooking my birthday buffet, I got a sudden craving for belty announcement-style showtunes. If I end up living long enough, I'd love to be the kind of person who can stand around and sing a song like this Sondheim one.
I lived through Dubya and Donald J. Truuu-uump
Gee that was fun and a half.
When you've been through Dubya and Donald J. Truuu-uump
Anything else is a laugh.
✨enjoying: one final piece of pop culture fun
Speaking of musicals!
Everyone who likes musicals should probably give Schimagadoon! a whirl. I throroughly enjoyed its six short episodes, all tributes to some of the best showtunes and storylines we grew up with. A scene:
If you, like me, randomly have a subscription to Apple TV, you should watch it while you're waiting for the last couple of episodes of Ted Lasso to drop.
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