Y Our Generation?

November 4th, 2010, two days after mid-term elections in the United States. Yes, I voted and yes, I guilted many others into voting, but I can't say I feel much of anything after the results. Republicans took over the House, some lost, some won, and the political bantering and rhetoric continues.

Will anything change? Probably not.

Statistically speaking, I may be considered an anomaly for actually voting. My generation, (Generation Y, the Millennials, Generation Next, Echo Boomers,) have been called apathetic, uneducated, selfish, self-righteous, and oblivious to the world outside. We are now told that our parents babied us, told us we could be whatever we wanted to be, never punished us. And now it is destroying us. Or so we're told. I used to get defensive when I heard my generation was called apathetic, especially when it came to politics. But now I stand back and say, "Well, have you tried to care lately?" Television, the Internet, and social media sites have created unlimited outlets for gathering information except the problem is that we are exposed to too much information. Instead of retaining, we are turning away from the political warfare and towards that which is familiar: home, friends, traveling, our simple, boring, mundane, everyday lives. Take one step outside of your home and tell me if you are greatly affected by the politicians in Washington at that very moment. I don't blame my generation for stepping away from politics and government today. Consider this our silent protest.

So what matters to us, the Millennials? Writer Pearl S. Buck said, "I can only write what I know," and that holds true for me. Some of us may be interested in starting a family as we near thirty, others may be looking for the perfect 9-5 with a benefit package to boot.

I simply want to find what I love and relish in it. It is such a cliché to say that 'life moves so quickly,' but unfortunately it does. I believe it is our duty to pay attention to events and politics that affect our life, but we must also take pleasure, pure guilt-free pleasure, in what we love. Therefore, this blog will be an adventure and a journey through food, traveling, poetry, art, fashion, and the romantic trials and tribulations of a Generation Nexter.

Until next time, I leave you with a quote from T.S. Eliot:

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."


-(from "Little Gidding," the last of Four Quartets)