One sluggish workday I was so focused on pumping myself to get back into yoga. I put so much effort into reminding myself to bring my yoga mat with me to work, only to arrive at the office and realize that, while I did have my yoga mat, I did not have my bag. My bag, as in the contents of which include everything essential: my wallet, umbrella, pen.
Lunch drew near, and since I hold myself in such high regard, I refused to borrow money from my boss. I marched to the bank to claim money that was rightfully mine. But as I had no identification whatsoever, all I got was a raised eyebrow and a subtle “shoo.”
“Really,” I thought, exasperated. They were holding my own money hostage? When I figured that my “I left my bag at home and I just need to eat lunch,” excuse was sketchy, I surrendered.
The missed lunch bothered me, yes, but more so the feeling that I had missed it for a chance to get back into shape. It was the looming feeling of mixed-up priorities, and why the hell was I so out of it some days? My friend, on the other hand, sent me a reassuring text: “Your life is amusing.”
The Struggling somethings
In the pilot episode of the HBO hit Girls, 24-year-old Hannah Horvath is told by her parents that they are finally cutting off all her financial support. A “struggling writer” living in New York, Hannah is dumbfounded by the drastic move of her parents who, for the past two years after her graduation, have clasped her hand in support. The financial pullout is tantamount to a big slap in the face — “get a real job.” And suddenly, shit gets real.
The thing about being fresh (or maybe not so fresh) out of college is that level of idealism, the lack of a good grasp of reality, and mixed-up priorities. For the twentysomethings who aren’t concerned with money, they are the “struggling somethings,” whose ultimate plight is to become a something. Reality becomes clearer for these “struggling somethings,” though, when they come to terms with the fact that while it’s nice to strive for something bigger, surviving and independence is a whole other story.
WHAT’S YOUR PRIORITY?
While it looks like you can read this generation like the back of your hand, the truth is our priorities are so random they cannot really be compartmentalized. While some are already set on self-actualization, others are only concerned about finding the means to sustain their living.
But there is one thing that brings all twentysomethings together, no matter what background or school they come from. It’s that at this point, they are all expected to be cut from Mommy and Daddy’s checkbook.
This shouldn’t be too bad, though. The twenties is the perfect time for struggle. This is the only time that struggle will actually be funny, maybe even cool. This is the only time that being forced to survive within your means is an enviable asset to have. Where being rough on the edges is considered character. Where your obviously screwed-up list of priorities is something that can be understood.
Maybe it’s time that the girls and boys of Gossip Girl abdicate the throne, because perhaps at this point conyo problems are just not that entertaining anymore. This is evident in media as well, in the likes of comedy shows like How to Make it in America, 2 Broke Girls, and Girls, whose protagonists all happen to be the same: twentysomething, passionate, hungry. It helps that they’re witty as well.
So if you’re 20, broke and you know it, clap your hands —because right now, struggle is a damn good story to tell.