Walking on the moon and then mapping out the entire universe

MANILA, Philippines - At 6’1 barefoot, Gwen Ruain throws a serious shadow. She pouts and twirls, playing the shadow puppet for Supreme, her Fil-French form casting drama as good as any Balinese Wayang Kulit. But no matter how bold her pose, the attitude in her face, her shadow forever follows her movements like a dark ghost, towering over her at times.

Inheriting a world on the verge of some serious re-landscaping and a history that’s ripening into its third millennium, who we’d call “kids” today are a generation defined by burden. The burden of the mistakes of our parents in the past, which are demanding payment-in-full today. The burden of too much information and too much freedom.

We live in a world where the question has been made irrelevant, its place unceremoniously taken up by an odd, new verb: “Google,” all the answers in the world now as accessible as Miley Cyrus’ Twitter account. Where fully-grown adults will follow the fashion dictates of a 16-year-old girl from Godknowswhere, Texas, and a singer-songwriter can find fame in videotaping herself singing pop covers. Today, the possibilities and connections a person can make in a day, much less a lifetime, are, in the fullest sense of the word, endless — and that word is casting a hefty shadow. The door is open to anyone who has guts and genius to make it through. 

But perhaps, like any of us, the only shadow Gwen here is afraid of is her own. Overwhelmed by just what we can do, by who we can truly be, we put up Facebook accounts and MySpace personas, our friend lists piling up like junk mail. We live out in a Second Life what we wish we could accomplish in our first. We vote on the effed-up-ness of other people’s lives or make up FML stories of our own. The potential for excuses is just as endless.

And who can blame us. Our parents may have had the challenge of walking on the moon, but we’re faced with mapping out the entire universe. Thing is, the world isn’t looking at the official leaders, the legit celebrities, the supposed and acknowledged movers and shakers of the world. It’s looking at you. Just you. To create your own visions. Dictate your own trends. Lead your own revolutions. There are no critics or experts or grownups left to decide things for you. So look up and ahead and step out of the shadows.