Generations

The generational divide is ever present, and it has been growing for a long time. We have a generation that is disappearing faster and faster every day, unable to right any wrongs they have done. We have a generation that has sustained unfathomable amounts of trauma as a result, left with the ghosts of those who dealt the harm in the first place. This resulted in yet another abandoned generation while the previous was left to salvage what seemingly little sanity was left in their world. Now, the latest generation is spawning yet another generation that arrives in a world in shambles, and rapidly decaying, while we desperately try to contain the fallout of unattended societal neglect.

Not to say that this generation is any better, or worse than the previous generations. After all, it was not only inherited but instilled within the genetic code of what we call a society. Some of the things that used to be normal are no longer part of the daily agenda. We have mostly traded congregating at the mall for online shopping. We have grown weary of gathering in large crowds due to unstable individuals who have made it entirely impossible to relax in such a setting.

Every generation that passes, solitude seemingly becomes more and more common. Perhaps that is the reason that mental health has taken a decline. Being alone with your thoughts can drive you insane. But what do you do when you have been trained to be alone? When you have witnessed time and time again that gravitating towards people only ends in your peace being disturbed, and your emotions left in shambles, especially from the ones you had no choice but to trust?

So now we find ourselves at one of the many root problems of the current condition our world is in. We have been trying to find a balance between isolating ourselves from those who cause harm while trying to find people we can trust with the task of building ourselves back up from the ashes of the hateful fires sparked by each generation that passes. As a whole, we have found beauty in some of the darkest places and found that sometimes people are just trying to live as comfortably as possible with the means that they’ve been handed.

Yet we still hear the echoes of the past, telling us we are not worth saving. They’re still busy trying to save themselves. That leaves us with a decision to make. Do we focus on ourselves? Do we help them build back what they have lost, or perhaps never had in the first place? Is it all just a dream and nothing more?

Honestly, we will never find out if we don’t take some kind of action. I feel like if we just focus on ourselves, there is a possibility that we may salvage some kind of sense of worth, and maybe even leave something worth a lifetime for the next generation. But if we leave the previous generation behind, will it spark more hatred? Resentment? Jealousy? Would it be worth potentially sparking another fire?

On the other hand, if we help the previous generation, we could find some sense of worth in potentially salvaging a dream and making what seemed like long-passed childhood wishes come true. But would those same feelings of resentment and hatred burn within? Would we be satisfied with living in the image of something we never desired to be a part of? Would we find that this was actually the path we should have taken?

Maybe we could find some sort of middle ground. Surely both generations could come together for the sake of the future and make compromises to build back to a better way of life. Of course, not everyone will be on board. There are still personal agendas that every individual feels they need to attend to. But couldn’t the majority of what we do from now on include the state of the future, and involve potentially leaving behind something that is worth living for?

All it takes is facing your problems with an open mind. Hope for the best, expect the worst, and you will never be disappointed. But give the unknown a chance to bloom, and you may be left with something beautiful and fruit-bearing. If not, you simply cut the weed from your garden and keep growing.

My name is UpL8 and being UpL8 feels Gr8.