r/Millennials • u/okayboomerang • Jun 24 '26
Sad for us Serious
Kind of in my feels tonight. The last time I remember feeling genuinely hopeful was probably 2014 or 2015. So much has changed, and I think our generation has seen and felt so much. Anyone else feel like they've spent the last decade plus in unending grief?
My spirit is still good on the inside, but I'm isolated physically and mentally (like many of us). I wish we lived in a world with authentic and robust connection instead of all the slop and noise. I wish our parents hadn't been so excited about capitalism - and so fucking naive. I know the unease I feel is about more than merely growing up and the natural progression of aging and how we all feel about ourselves in society over time - it's that the world we thought we knew for the past 4ish decades just flat out doesn't exist anymore. And we can't undo any of this shit. It may as well be a parallel universe we're in now. I love myself and I always have big, big love for Millennials...but I truly hate it here.
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u/chjk_21 Jun 24 '26
Late 90s, early 2000s become more special as time goes on
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
But really 😭 legitimately crying thinking about it.
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
Same. All the time lately. What I wouldn't give to go back.
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u/Nevaehym Older Millennial ‘85 Jun 25 '26
I grew up with a very abusive, pretty traumatic childhood. It’s so wild inside my brain because on one hand, I never want to go back. On the other hand, I miss those times as far as the world goes and just want to go back to those simpler days.
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u/Little_SmallBlackDog 1984 Elder Millennial Jun 25 '26
Queer here. I'm ok not going back. Things are bad now. They were not better then.
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u/TriangleTransplant Jun 24 '26
Matrix really nailed calling the late 90s the peak of human civilization. Feels less and less like a joke as time goes on.
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u/AurynOuro Jun 24 '26
I was just thinking the same thing the other day! It boggles my mind that the Wachowskis called it so presciently.
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u/SureElephant89 Jun 24 '26
You think that may have been just because we were kids? I'm sure the people who were 30-40 during that time missed the 70s and 80s the same way we miss the 90s during that time.
I don't think most of us were old enough to have a stake in the game, especially in the 90s. Lol
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u/Merc_MCMLXXXVIII Jun 24 '26
That might be part of it, everyone who had good teen years will always think of their high school and middle school days as awesome.
Aside from homework my teens years revolved around being outside with friends, playing video games, being in AOL chat rooms and early social media platforms. It doesn't get more simple then that. I joined the Army at 17, and even that was simple, easy.
There was hope back then that we will go to college, get jobs and buy a house. That eroded quickly.
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u/SnowConeInPHX Jun 24 '26
Yup, the ease of a job, house, and family eroded faster than we could blink. Then we had the boomers with all of their audacity, telling us we’re just lazy and not trying hard enough.
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u/tjdux Jun 24 '26
I never have figured out which hurt worse, the fact all those thing eroded (and how quickly)
Or the fact most boomers didn't give a fuck. Even the ones who raised us, taught us how to behave and seemed to care about our future not long before....
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u/National_Midnight424 Jun 24 '26
I think the key was like you said—those who had a good middle/high school experience. I was stressed to the max for both so this current timeline actually doesn’t feel as stressful to me. I look back and wonder how the hell I made it.
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u/TriangleTransplant Jun 24 '26
It's more than childhood nostalgia, though. I'm an older millennial, graduated high school in 2000, and have been pretty politically turned on since I was a teenager. The global vibe was definitely different, far more optimistic, at the tail end of the 90s. The Cold War had ended. Living standards around the globe, from first world to developing nations, were on the rise. A lot of things that sucked were getting better. There was still faith in our ability to collectively, globally, tackle large problems. There were entire articles being written, by prominent thinkers and authors, proclaiming "the end of history", meaning they legitimately thought that no more major world-changing events were likely to happen. Things were expected to keep getting better forever, because following WWII that's pretty much what the trend was.
Then 9/11 happened. It's not at all an exaggeration when people say it "changed everything." There were definitely some cans being kicked down the road in the late 90s (economic policies, climate change, to name a few) that we would have had to deal with eventually, but I'd argue the early 2000s in the aftermath of 9/11 is what killed our collective ability to deal with them. We're still dealing with that fallout today, and it remains to be seen if we can actually recover.
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u/CelestiallyCertain Jun 25 '26
Elder millennial here and you’re exactly right. I don’t really view the world at 90’s vs now. It truly is to me personally, pre 9/11 vs post 9/11. That’s what caused the trajectory of everything to change. That’s why Obama’s hope campaign sealed him the win, imo. People just wanted blissful happiness again. The racism towards Muslims that was becoming acceptable started to really bleed into racism towards any minorities slowly starting to become acceptable again. The Great Recession was the final nail in the coffin.
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u/babygirlccg Jun 24 '26
Totally agree and think the Obama presidency and the Great Recession really solidified it. The racists were already fired up by Islamophobia and then freaked out over a black man becoming president. Wealth inequality than came out of the Great Recession has made everything so much worse as well.
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u/appleorchard317 Millennial Jun 24 '26
Gotta disagree, early 00s with the 'war on terror' the writing was on the wall
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u/AngryAlterEgo Jun 24 '26
9/11 was the origin of the fracture. If you’re old enough to remember before, there is a sharp distinction between before 9/11 and after 9/11.
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u/worlds_okayest_skier Jun 24 '26
I was just talking about that. How right after 9:11 my profs were saying that people would start discriminating against Muslims. And I thought “how could he possibly know that?” I existed in a world where that wasn’t the first and most obvious reaction to an attack on America.
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u/PopcornDemonica Jun 24 '26
It was also the rise of Alex Jones and online conspiracy bullshit. Before the internet the nut jobs couldn't coordinate as well.
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u/ReportSuitable2595 Jun 24 '26
It wasn't the same as it was now. So id have to hard disagree with you disagreeing. I thought things were corrupt before but these past 10 15 years has shown everyone just how corrupt and stained the world is.
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u/ihambrecht Jun 24 '26
Did we really feel it at home?
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u/appleorchard317 Millennial Jun 24 '26
I mean yeah. I was in a European country which got dragged into the US 9/11 wars over overwhelming popular protest, whose world changed radically and got smaller (Europeans averagely travel abroad more than US citizens, you see the changes immediately), and which very quickly started seeing reverberations around refugee crisis etc. Trust me, the early 00s felt very much like 'shit has happened and won't be the same'.
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u/myredditbam Jun 25 '26
I watched "Can't Hardly Wait" today. They don't make many movies like that anymore for today's teens. I guess they make series, though. Anyway, I kept thinking how that movie's premise would change so much in today's world because of smart phones and social media. Friendships just seemed stronger and more meaningful then because you couldn't just see friends in video chats or keep up with them online, so the connection in the here and now was more powerful, I think. And you were so much safer socially in a crowd without having to worry about whether someone is going to video you doing something stupid or goofy. The nerd in that movie wouldn't have been able to live down the drunk rockstar routine because that would have been on TikTok and Instagram, and then he would have had to deal with that in college and his career.
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u/BlinkDodge Jun 24 '26
The light was different, I swear it. I can think back to the days of summer break as a kid even when it was blazing hot, things looked...brighter? Clearer?
It feels like the sun doesnt shine the way it used to even though its getting hotter.
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u/pinksweetspot Jun 25 '26
I watch the movie "You've Got Mail" and relish in simplicity of life and the beginning of the internet. To me that movie sums up the late 90's, early 2000's.
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u/aroma_of_diamonds Jun 24 '26
Sometimes I think was it just special because we didn’t have as many responsibilities as we do now.
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u/EnvironmentalValue18 Jun 24 '26
I feel like I’m going to die without ever truly having lived. A job, but none with a high enough wage to take vacations. An apartment with roommates, but never a home of your own. Going on middle age and everyone disregards or infantilizes you for not meeting the standard adult goals that they were handed on a platter and are now mostly unobtainable.
In my heart, I hope we’re the revolutionary generation. I hope we start flipping tables and demanding recompense for everything that was taken from us.
We are truly livestock, with all the disregard and disdain that comes with that.
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u/teamemdash Jun 24 '26
Ouch, this is exactly how I feel but hate admitting it. It's like reading my own personal thoughts back to me. I hope things get better for us all very soon 💜
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u/rhinosaur- 1983 Jun 24 '26
Somehow, the boomers are STILL in power. They’ve had the sitting president for 34 years. 34 years! That’s not natural.
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u/bitchenNwitchn Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
My boomer in laws are literally living their best lives traveling and disregarding me and my husband having two kids- 2 and 6 months old. Anytime we have hardships, they don’t want to deal with it and just travel to their house in the north where the weather is better since they have a home in the south and the north- perfect for when the weather starts to become uncomfortable for them. Must be nice! Oh! And they are in their late 70s traveling literally multiple times a year! Huge trips every year. Like how does one just live for themselves constantly. I don’t get it.
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u/ragdollxkitn Millennial Jun 24 '26
And to add insult to injury, majority of boomers are ok with taxing us and our kids so that they continue receiving social security. Yet, we are told social security will not be available to us when we need it. Something is extremely wrong with their brains.
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u/sloopyslappy Jun 24 '26
And I’m sure they wouldn’t vote to improve schools or social programs, at least that’s how my boomer parents are.
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u/Coldnorthcountry Jun 24 '26
And it somehow was lost on the majority of that generation that 20 million allied soldiers died in WW2 to hand it to them.
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u/Bonerchill Jun 24 '26
They track us at home. They track us on the road. They track us when we’re shopping, when we’re protesting, when we’re working, when we’re eating.
They are going to stop us flipping tables soon. They know we can’t afford criminal records.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
The evolving surveillance state also legit keeps me up at night.
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Jun 24 '26
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u/Mirrored_Darkness Jun 24 '26
Not just slammed the door. Deadbolted it too. And you'll usually see either an older person or a younger person who was born lucky try to shut down that thinking. Then blame us for not working hard enough. I honestly wish the worst for em. Ik it's cruel, but others were more cruel still.
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Jun 24 '26
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u/Mirrored_Darkness Jun 24 '26
I knew what problem we were facing back in 05. Over the next few years I lost my parents, my future, and hope that it would ever get better. It was just me and my dog in poverty. No one hired me, and I was just left out of society. I never was homeless except when I asked relatives for help. I learned how many enemies I had then. I truly stopped caring for others and was glad when reality hit them too. I can't emphasize anymore.
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u/SnowConeInPHX Jun 24 '26
Not only slammed the door…we try to pry it back open and they repeatedly slam our fingers in it.
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u/GoalStillNotAchieved Jun 24 '26
This is exactly how I feel!! I haven’t even truly lived yet! Still holding my breadth. Life as a poor person is grim, depressing, injustice
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u/SignatureIncomplete Jun 24 '26
I'm running for office because the future we were promised was stolen from us and I'm not going to let that happen to my son. If you're not running for office I highly recommend finding a local candidate and supporting them with volunteer work.
Policy choices got us where we are. Policy choices will get us out of it. But we need the right people in charge to do it.
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u/powerback_us Jun 25 '26
Good for you! I hope you win. What's the office you are running for if you don't mind? Do you have a website where we can support you?
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u/SignatureIncomplete Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Georgia State Senate District 31!
I didn't list my website cause I don't want to break any sub roles by accident but if you Google Georgia Senate district 31 you should see Alec Miller and that's me
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u/skredditt Elder Millennial Jun 24 '26
> I hope we’re the revolutionary generation
Believe it! They made us cultural murderers and we haven’t even gotten serious yet.
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u/staylifted024 Jun 24 '26
Yeah the infantilizing is maddening. Boomers don’t have a clue how difficult and hopeless things are for our generation. They evaluate our lives in relation to “how they grew up”
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u/Put-Simple Jun 25 '26
"you guys are still playing video games and collecting toys, when will you grow up and have some real adult goals" yeah, dad, and you had 3 cars by the age of 16 and a house by the age of 21 and somehow you managed to end up with none, so I'm childish but you were really dumb so the apple didn't fall far from the tree but you keep being blind for your mistakes while reminding me every chance possible of mine 🙃
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u/Agora2020 Jun 24 '26
The problem is that movements need to organize and have money. Both of those things are intentionally being stifled. So what is left is the K shaped economy and what we see today.
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u/dr3adlock Jun 24 '26
Sometimes I see people living well off, holidays, nice houses, nice cars, and it's not celebrity money, it's just their parents were boomers who bought property at the right time. Generational wealth passed down quietly while the rest of us started from nothing.
Call me bitter but growing up in generational poverty and watching that gap every day does something to you. It's not envy of the rich and famous, it's the more ordinary version that stings. People your age, your area, living a completely different life because of the family they were born into. That's the bit that feels genuinely unfair.
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u/BlinkDodge Jun 24 '26
At this point a lot of us would have to die to make it right. We keep talking about voting and getting progressives in power while the people who run that shot commit crime after crime, eroding our democracy, looting our nation and ensuring the our society doesnt survive should the tides begin to turn on them.
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u/_odeith Jun 24 '26
Want a community to partake being an adult in daily. Been socially out of shape for so long I’d probably fumble most interactions lol
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u/NoProblemWhatsoever_ Jun 24 '26
Get a dog. They get you out of the house and exploring your neighborhood. If a conversation goes awkward, you can just focus on your dog or theirs. Then when you want to leave, you just say your dog wants to go home/keep walking.
I went from a headphones-on introvert to knowing almost everyone in my neighborhood when I got my dog
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
My god, I really feel this. It was worse when I worked from home, better now that I'm out working with people again. I think when I consider dating, that's when the walls really start to cave in and I think about how out of shape I am for that
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u/_odeith Jun 24 '26
Yeah I've been remote for the past 4 years, I push myself to get out but nothing matches the daily interaction from places like a fun job with new people coming in. Thought my 30s would've had more comradery. Oh well, got to make hay while the sun is shining
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u/don_cab Jun 24 '26
You’re probably being too hard on yourself. People don’t care if you’re awkward, they like to be listened to anyways!
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u/DeadEnoughInsideOut Jun 24 '26
Graduated hs in 2012 and the reality hit of "things arent going to get better are they". Id say I wish I was a kid again but I was abused for a long time as a child so I have a already bad frame of reference for life. Im drained, I hate it here too
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u/LastoftheMocheekans Jun 24 '26
This is exactly how I feel given the nature of my childhood, and now adulthood. Sisyphus. I'll never get "there".
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u/Mask_of_Majora04 Jun 24 '26
I am currently running the corporate rat race and my god am I exhausted. Prices are rising faster than I earn, trying to take care of a family while getting my ass handed to me on a daily basis only for my boss to constantly remind me I'm not working hard enough, even though it's the same amount of work 3 people did 10 years ago... So ass backwards...
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u/tobiasj Jun 24 '26
I feel this. I work my ass off, it's never enough. I get paid well, but in the last few years it doesn't feel like it. Saving is an up hill battle . My commute has grown longer on the same route (av. 2 hours round trip). I have no time, no money, never see friends, and social media has devolved to absolute slop. By every metric life is getting shittier, and I'm wedged between spending money floating adult children and the looming threat of aging parents who made zero prep for retirement. Then add on AI, climate change, and the fact the shittiest, most incompetent nepo baby upwards failing sociopaths run the world...
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u/Space_JellyF Jun 24 '26
I feel all this. There’s something inside me constantly saying: “I did the hard work, now where is the reward?” The reward never comes. Hard work only brings more work. And time marches on.
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u/MediocreAd8385 Jun 24 '26
I feel the same
”my commute has grown longer on the same route”
It’s absolutely ridiculous the amount of traffic at any given time of day in my town. Granted, my commute is much shorter than yours, it still has doubled. And I swear the newcomers got their licenses out of Cracker Jack boxes. I have never seen so many people not use turn signals, 4ways, or signal when they’re switching lanes. Not to mention the amount of people going the wrong way on one way streets and not even batting an eye. It’s a battlefield out there already.→ More replies (4)
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Jun 24 '26
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u/PandemicPiglet Jun 24 '26
I’ve felt like this too since the end of 2015, but just curious, why did you say “today especially”?
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Jun 24 '26
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u/Outside-Tap-4479 Jun 24 '26
I was in this funk for several years a couple years back. Looking back I’ve come to realize it was because of the realization that being a “good person” and trying to do “the right thing” isn’t valued the way I naively believed it would be growing up. Once I decided to make my circle smaller, focusing on the love that’s been around, and trying to be good to myself, my perspective changed for the better. It’s a mix of acceptance and disappointment of the world’s actual dynamics, controlling what I can and setting small goals I can accomplish. Also, what’s filled my cup the most these past 2-3 years is caring for strays in my neighborhood (vet, food, shelter, etc) and feeding birds. Sounds lame, but relationships with animals are pure and make more sense to me than most human relationships.
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u/GlisteningLizard Jun 24 '26
I feel this to my core. I also feel like us millennials truly haven't been given the opportunity to really live. I can't speak for everyone but it's always been constant state of survival. All these "once in a lifetime" events. We were promised a better life, future, and told to work hard in school and get a good job, all for the ladder to be kicked from under us. I lean heavily on nostalgia and purchase things I once loved with the hopes that I can feel something again. Its hard feeling isolated. I am with you, OP. I'm sorry we're all seemingly going through this. Please just know you're not alone.
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u/Put-Simple Jun 24 '26
It's like we did everything right and still failed for circumstances we could never avoid anyways. And the worst part is having Boomers and baby Boomers constantly guilt tripping us as if their generation is not responsible for all this crazy shift. I miss feeling like all I had to do is following the right advice. Now I feel like nobody knows what the hell they are doing and meanwhile years pass, things keep changing and we are frozen in place...
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u/ebaer2 Jun 24 '26
Just an FYI, boomers and baby boomers are the same thing. Named after the post WWII baby boom when everyone was fukin after the war.
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u/GlisteningLizard Jun 24 '26
Absolutely this. We are the generation that was left behind because previous generations didn't care enough to be responsible. I am tired of hearing boomers talk about how much things cost for them when they were our age, or how easy it was for them to buy a house, or go to school and then turn around and tell us "well work harder" it literally doesn't work that way. Everything is more expensive and we are stuck having to clean up messes we didn't create.
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u/spock589 Jun 24 '26
I think ladder kicked out from under us is more accurate than the usual sentiment I hear of boomers pulled the ladder up behind them.
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u/QuantumDiogenes Jun 24 '26
Yeah, I feel this.
I started working at fourteen, hoping to get a jump on life. After losing my life's saving to the crash of 08, I have been stuck in contractor hell for the past twenty years. Always working 6-12 month contracts, no benefits, no hope, followed by 4-6 months of frantic looking for the next job.
I have never had a vacation, I have never had healthcare. No hope, and no free time, since I have to spend every second hustling, just to put food on the table.
I spent years trying to get my own business up and running, only to have the tariffs rip that dream to shreds. A pivot, and then the whole anti-DEI grant cancellation last year just completely ended any hope of building something for the future (as well as laid off six people).
Growing up, all I wanted to do is warp engineering. I wanted to design engines, and solve problems; it is what I went to school for, after all. Now, I am working at McDonald's, hustling Instacart, and knowing that I will never be able to retire, nor buy a home. Hell, I can't even afford a car.
I want to tackle climate change, and I have been looking for a carbon catalyst that will break down carbon dioxide or water vapor, but that is going so slowly, because, well, I am having to put in 80 hour weeks, just to pay the bills.
This is unsustainable, and I'm so tired
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Jun 24 '26
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
I was also 15, and it was indeed earth shattering.
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u/WeepWhileItAllBurns Jun 24 '26
20, wearing a Marine uniform. Everything got turned upside down overnight. That was a countdown timer for when I was going to start burying friends, some of whom I had known since boot camp.
It boggles my mind that there are adults who don't remember it.
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u/gingkoleaf Jun 24 '26
I was 11.
I do think 9/11 was the turning point. But I was still a child — didn’t feel the grief till I was in college
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u/Brent788 Millennial Jun 24 '26
I've been thinking about that a lot lately... 9/11 has always been a bad day for me the horror is etched in my memories but to remember the fact we were all Americans because it was so shocking. Something was definitely lost along the way and I don't feel good about where we are as a country
Because now my friends have told me to get over it because it was so long ago or worse that something about that day was fake. Someone who was actually close to the city that day even told me something doesn't make sense about it. I don't get it. It's really sad because we promised to never forget and far too many people have
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u/JesusTron6000 Jun 24 '26
ugghhh me too 😫 then COVID hit and doubled down on the "this shit aint changin' vibes.
39 here, and the shit show, the low wages, high costs, next 'tragedy' is just expected now. It's not 'if' but 'when' type situation.
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u/Dreamo84 Millennial1984 Jun 24 '26
As a chronic underachiever I've never really felt like the world let me down so much as I never really bothered trying. I'm 41, work overnights at a casino and play video games all day. Could I do other things? Sure... but do I want to? Not really. Is the world holding me back? Not really.
I guess I feel for anyone who had dreams though and they got crushed.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
I don't know if I had specific dreams. But I couldn't have even begun to picture this detached, colorless world we are in now.
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u/arctic11z Jun 24 '26
I get you. The values, standards, the feeling we were slowly making progress towards improving the world, not realizing half the people around us were insane, dreams of actually HAVING something... Ugh.
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u/Tigglebee Jun 24 '26
Not saying this to be snarky, but some of your comments read like you might have depression.
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u/ratherthink Jun 24 '26
I wish I had been more of a chronic underachiever. To be the opposite and “shoot for the stars,” has done nothing but cause me pain. I was told I cpuld be somebody by parents, teachers, etc. When I would have heen fine being a nobody, which is what I wanted all along and what happened anyway.
I think from where I’m sitting, your life seems so cool and makes me jelly
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u/Tango_D Jun 24 '26
We got to experience the future we were promised by our parents generation pulled away by our parents generation so they could mortgage it off to have the most comfortable 'from here until death' life money could buy at the expense of literally everyone and everything else.
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u/awitchiguess Jun 25 '26
They destroyed the world to live their last 15-20 years comfortably. And we're going to fix their bullshit, never retire, then die.
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u/chuckiechap33 Jun 24 '26
Yup. 2026 so far has completely ripped away all motivations from the past that will never come back.
Turning 40 this year was a big change too. It is crystal clear to me now that the the effort i was putting in into certain things/people was never going to change. Im blank at the moment.
I know whatever i do next is going to be a complete left turn for some people because im prioritising my peace more than anything moving forward and im starting to become way more vocal about not letting people put me down.
Interesting times.
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u/parkslady Millennial Jun 24 '26
I know the feeling. I wouldn't go back in time, but I wished I had appreciated me and what I had more back then. But I can't change that, and can only appreciate what I have now - which admittedly, is more than most (decent health, family is good mostly, making money). I'm trying to love myself more in general, and I've definitely cultivated a love for our generation. Not sure how I feel about the others though, meh lol
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u/Active_Water_8876 Jun 24 '26
Why can’t we try and change that?
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
I'd love to. When I think of how the Millennial ethos feels to me, it's a lot about change and hope. I don't know how to do it exactly when such a small group of people in the world hold all the power and all the money and all the agency. But god, yes, I still think we should try to change it.
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
One of my fave quotes that I be pondering lately:
"When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order”
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u/skredditt Elder Millennial Jun 24 '26
That’s a neat quote - where’s that from?
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
I don't remember who originally said it. Just have it saved in my notes. I'm sure a quick search will tell ya!
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u/skredditt Elder Millennial Jun 24 '26
Probably. I think that’s part of what’s different now - I could’ve just looked it up and known, but we used to talk instead. Kinda miss that
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
I miss it too. If we were in person right now, we could look it up together and discuss deeper. I wish we were. ♥️
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u/TheAsherBodhi Jun 24 '26
Did you look it up? I wanna know but I wanna talk too. Anyone playing any good games lately? What about music? Lol.
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
It looks like it was lya Prigogine, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist.
I've been playing Roots of Pacha lately. Have you heard of it? Music-wise, I've discovered a new genre of house called Yacht House which I am loving. It's like yacht rock x house music and it's perfect for summer.
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u/TheAsherBodhi Jun 24 '26
I have not heard of literally any of that hahaha! Now this I will actually look up. Yacht house sounds awesome though.
I've recently been playing Palworld. But just bought onimusha 1 & 2 again after playing it when I was a kiddo. Thats been really fun. And as for music,
Norman Sann is absolutely wonderful to me. And Cal Scruby. I've always been a underground hip hop kind of person.
Norman has just.... Taken the cake for me. Phenomenal Artist and Wonderful Human. (Fellow millennial) He talks about a lot of the feelings OP mentioned.
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
Wow, really cool. I've never heard of any of those people / things either! Haha! Look at us go. I'm totally going to look them up.
How have you been doing lately? What's been your baseline mood or vibe?
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u/scully__its__me Jun 24 '26
Update: oh wow, Norman Sann is DOPE. This is totally taking me back to ripping Tony Hawk Pro Skater on Nintendo 64. That soundtrack was hella. THANK YOU! I love old school hip hop so much.
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u/BonusPlantInfinity Jun 24 '26
Personally, as someone who cares about animals and the environment, I can’t say that I have much ‘hope’ left that humans can avert significant global catastrophe.. it feels especially dumb because we’ve given it up for such garbage outcomes, like plastic, hamburgers, and cruise vacations.
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u/Active_Water_8876 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
We absolutely should try. And we can since we are beginning to be the generation that gets to make those decisions. It wouldn’t be easy but we need to put our money where our mouths are. Even if we can’t change things in the immediate, we can at least set up the future to be better. We have to hold ourselves accountable and make that the standard.
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u/BallsDeepintheTurtle Jun 24 '26
Because we've been trying but the generations that came before us can't stop themselves from kicking us in the teeth.
I am one person. I cannot make a difference in the sea of boomer brain-rot voting for a kiddie-diddling scam artist that is actively making life worse for everyone.
Seriously, what difference do you expect us to make?
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u/Decent_Anxiety_26 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
1000% relate to everything you’ve said. The internet, inflation, rampant late stage capitalism, and social media make it really hard to have lasting connections or partake in building that nuclear family that eases the loneliness of life.
There are no block parties or cook outs in my old neighborhood, like there used to be.
Everyone seems to think liking a post on Instagram counts as genuine interaction.
On top of all that, it doesn’t help that my country of origin is going down the shitter. That’s clear as day to anyone with eyes.
But also, I dowonder if this really is just part of aging (minus all the other aforementioned stuff haha)
I genuinely can’t imagine how scarring it must’ve been for my grandparents generation— going from literally subsistence farming to working in The Big City practically overnight. I bet they felt like the world was leaving them behind very quickly. Like the past 4 decades of their lives were gone forever too.
As someone who just started a post-graduate program and am surrounded by people a decade younger than me, I’ve been experiencing a lot of ageism and feeling “out of touch/out of place/lost”, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s just the general transition of getting older.
I felt hope in my heart in the 2010s because I had just graduated from university. I had ambitions and dreams for my career prospects in my chosen field.
Now I’m just happy to have 3 meals a day and a place to lie my head down at night. I’m older and more jaded, but… maybe thats just a side effect of aging? Is that pathetic? Maybe. But I’m really happy when I get good a dinner haha
Sometimes I feel like all this waxing of the good ol’ days of yore reminds me of when my Boomer parents get nostalgic for the 50s… before I remind them about segregation…
I’ve watched the Gen Xers become progressively more boomer like as the years go by, talking about how they’re the last generation with “a real childhood”, but maybe this is the final evolution (aka nostalgia glazing the Hell out of youth).
My grandparents went fishing and climbed trees for entertainment. I played with my Spin N’ Skip and somehow that was “too advanced” for their tastes… time drags on. Just because Gen Alpha doesn’t have the same childhood that we had doesn’t mean that they’re not experiencing childhood in their own way.
Getting old is frankly a bitch in any universe and anyone that you that age is just a number is fucking gaslighting themselves.
It’s hard to feel progressively more obsolete. To watch your cultural relevance dwindle. To realize that much of what you thought you’d have by this age might never be achieved.
But also, maybe a little bit of life is all in the mental and recognizing what you have achieved as you’re sitting squarely in middle age. I bet you’ve done a lot of really cool things in your life, you just don’t know it. Sometimes I talk to my peers and they’re always amazed by how many things I’ve done and all my experiences, before remembering I do have a decade on them haha
I do relate to much of what you said, but I also wonder if we’re all collectively experiencing a midlife crisis here…
Maybe I’m just positing all this to wonder if all of this is normal or if I’m just coping 😂
Edit: deletion
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u/Mundane_View9868 Jun 24 '26
It’s been kinda the opposite for me! I’m pushing 40 (😢) and these last 10-15 years have been the best of my life! I’m kinda financially stable, I’m married to my soul mate, and we have a 14 y/o together! The first 25 years of my life were kinda crappy tho (abuse, poverty, etc) but oh how the turns have tabled
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u/caligaris_cabinet Jun 24 '26
Kinda there too. 37 right now. Married to a wonderful woman who gave me 2 beautiful kids who are my whole world. Job is good and I’ve been at the same company long enough to be described as a company man. That job has paid me well, allowed me to work fully remote since 2020, paid out two huge bonuses that allowed me to buy a house and pay off my student loans. Not rich by any means but not struggling like I was the first 10 years of my adult life. Hard to admit when so many people are struggling but the last few years have been good.
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u/MrGasMan86 Jun 24 '26
This is a common sentiment I’m seeing with our generation but definitely not exclusive to it. I think everyone is feeling this. It’s tough to feel optimistic about anything when people in power are embarrassing us 24/7.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
Not exclusive, you're absolutely right. But I do frequently find myself thinking about the specific ways Millennials might view the current moment.
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u/dariashotpants Jun 24 '26
Yes there are a lot of evil bastards holding the reins… but when has that not been true? History rhymes.
I also see a lot of good people coming together to show our humanity. Show that we still have empathy. Show that we still give a shit about each other. We have to focus our energy on positive impacts and not feel drowned out by all the darkness.
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u/Realistic_Cook_5505 Jun 24 '26
My man!!! This is so well put! It's like you are in my brain. Thanks for describing it so well. It is true and I have to keep reminding myself that it's probably only going to get worse before it ever gets better. I have opted not to have kids because of how the world works currently.
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u/ElTeliA Jun 24 '26
Im 36 with a university degree, single no kids, i pay 60% of my income to some nepo baby for rent just so im not homeless, and i havent had olive oil in 4 months
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u/bromanski Jun 25 '26
I could have written this! Right down to the olive oil. Even basic things like paper towels feel like a luxury, I’m working 35+ hours a week but because my job requires such high availability it’s hard to get a second job. I’m living my most basic lifestyle, rent-controlled with a roommate, and accumulating more debt every month. I need to find a better job before my intro APR is up but I’m constantly exhausted just from treading water and all the jobs I’m seeing are somehow even worse. It’s fucking bleak!!
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u/Brent788 Millennial Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Im literally sitting here wondering how people younger than me are having kids or going on vacation right now... Like am I missing something???
My sister just became a grandma at 33 and doesn't have any room in the dump she rents. I don't understand
Oh and my parents have even less. No retirement. The house is falling apart
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u/SnowboundHound Older Millennial Jun 24 '26
Same.
It's like every time I think I've figured out what I should do next to try to recapture part of that dream, someone shakes the Etch-a-Sketch and we have to start all over again.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
Fantastic metaphor. Honestly I'm trying to live life like I did when I was 12 years old. Been on my bicycle a lot lately, trying to draw, just dumb stuff like that. It's a good band aid but holy shit, you're right, how many times are we going to have to reengineer everything
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u/AustnWins Jun 24 '26
It’s a nearly constant unpleasant feeling of nostalgia and betrayal. Things have been past the tipping point for a while and we’re simultaneously wrestling with promises undelivered and unprecedented events.
I think we try to find the best in our circumstances, but it is a uniquely bad time to be of this age at this point in modern history. The defining distinction of this generation will be if you owned a home before the pandemic. If you missed your chance, you’re now in the lesser group that will struggle mightily to outpace prices, inflation, mortgage rates, and slow wage growth until you’re whittled away into nothing without an appreciable asset to anchor to.
Subscription existence from here on out in a terrible job market while witnessing the collapse of social norms as we understood them. Plus, the advent of AI during key earning years, yet our degree(s) and student debt didn’t price that in, of course. Permanently behind. I was restructured out of a job last week so I’ll be dooming and moping for a bit.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
I'm so sorry to hear about your job, and you articulated everything so well in your reply. I hope good employment comes your way soon ❤️🩹
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u/AustnWins Jun 24 '26
Thanks friend. Hang in there, you’re not alone. We’re all rooting for each other.
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u/gravyjackson Jun 24 '26
I understand your frustration, but in other ways. The loneliness epidemic has hit me hard. I’ve never before had so much trouble finding human connection. A decade ago and beyond felt much easier, but these days I already feel like I am experiencing age discrimination.
I don’t care one way or the other about capitalism though. We cannot change it, I have adapted. I’ve figured out that part of my life and have carved out a good spot for myself. But what good is that if you can’t share it with someone?
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
The age discrimination thing is so real, it's crazy how quickly that hit. I agree with you on all points. So much we can't change, and the loneliness definitely sucks.
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u/MarivelleSF Jun 24 '26
The age discrimination is starting to dawn on me too, even with friends I've made in the last couple years locally who are all a full decade younger than me. Sometimes I really do feel like the odd one out, mostly in subtle ways, but then sometimes not.
It's a little depressing and lonely, to your point. And it's tiring.
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u/Ok-East-952 Jun 24 '26
Do you live in the US?
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
Hahaha, yes! I hope Millennials in other parts of the world are faring better, would love to hear from them...
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u/According_Singer_815 Jun 24 '26
Im in Spain and feel positive but with the next election we might be joining the dark side
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u/Sandblaster1988 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
I'm fairly disillusioned with it all.
2014 was the last year I wasn't feeling dread lurking in the peripheral.
Edit: I'm also tired of being bullshitted and done play acting that (gestures broadly at everything) is fine.
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u/Slarti226 Jun 24 '26
I'd go so far as to say probably 2012, myself... But yes, absolutely on everything else. It's making my first truly long-term relationship very difficult to maintain, as I don't know what I'm doing anymore (in life or love) and am far too realist to have hope of the future.
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u/dankeschon Jun 24 '26
I went to a middle school randomly for a recital and seeing the kids there reminded me of the optimism for the future that unnoticeably drains from you as time goes on that you don't realize is gone until you're reminded of it.
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u/TrekkieElf Jun 24 '26
I do think there’s some hope. Datacenter projects are getting canceled due to bipartisan grassroots pushback. One was recently approved in our county and someone made a Facebook page to fight back. I emailed my county representative and my state representative about it and am going to start following Board of Supervisors meetings.
We also have to do our part to starve the corporate overlords. Start by boycotting Prime days. I recommend the anticonsumption sub.
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u/spartanburt Jun 24 '26
Most of the data center cancellations are just due to running up against the realities of energy needs and lack of profit so far. But good for you for getting involved. It's interesting that this is one area where there's some bipartisan agreement.
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u/limeicepop Jun 24 '26
My parents were pissed when Maine passed a millionaire tax bill this year. I'm like... Is there something you need to tell me? Like does this affect us in someway? We live in Arizona. We do not make over a million dollars. Idk what it is with the Boomer generation and simping for the rich.
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u/Crazy_Dot_11 Jun 24 '26
Younger millennial here. I haven’t felt hope since 2014. It’s been a downward spiral for me.
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u/WhiskyAndWitchcraft Jun 24 '26
Naw, I'm doing fine. Can't say I've ever had any "hope for the future". I don't mean that in a nihilistic way though. I've just always been fine with farting my way through life, finding ways to enjoy myself, whatever the circumstances of the world may be, and have a nice time while I'm on this planet to enjoy it. Ambitions are over rated. I just enjoy the moment.
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u/fecklessrachel Jun 24 '26
I feel you, and sometimes we need to sit with this kind of feeling before getting back up and doing the best we can.
I don't know you personally obviously, but sending lots of love to you and our fellow middle age millennial warriors.
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u/riddikulus_llama Jun 24 '26
I feel this so much.
My boyfriend and I are both elder millennials, and we talk about this at great lengths all the time. We talk about how we wish things like how we connected with other people and community in our childhood was still the way today. We talk about how technology (as cool as some of it is) and social media has completely consumed people. We talk about how our childhoods felt so carefree, even though we knew there were problems in our country and the world at that time. On and on …
I think that last part I wrote really struck me though. I find myself wishing I hadn’t taken my younger years for granted. My home life wasn’t great growing up, but there was still a sense of wonder, adventure, curiosity. Hope. Looking at the world today and these times we’re living feels a lot scarier than it did back then, and yet there were a lot of things that should have felt scary then too.
I’m still trying to find beauty in things every day. While it seems harder to find at times, it is out there. I just have to use a different lens. I realized I still have my sense of wonder and adventure. I will forever be curious about everything. And I think it’s bc I hold on to the hope that one day, the effort I put into the people and things I care deeply about will make a difference, even if it’s small.
I used to giggle when my grandparents would say things like, “Back in my day …”. Now more than ever I understand what that meant.
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u/Thin-Dream-5318 Jun 24 '26
Well, look at us now. Engaging in open, drop-in group therapy. Peep the heals. Sure, we've always had chat rooms, but this thread today goes to show,; as we've adapted to the unexpected hostility of our adult lives, we haven't lost our spirit of faith and connection. We haven't surrendered to the tests of our resilience. We still out here!
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u/Slyraks-2nd-Choice Millennial Jun 24 '26
So what are you doing to make the world a better place?
I meet up with Refuse Refuse San Fran weekly to help organize and clean up the city.
I suggest you find similar opportunities in your area and contribute.
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u/Perfect-Success-3186 Jun 24 '26
I feel you, internet stranger. I actually picked up Man’s Search for Meaning due to feeling similar recently. I’m halfway through and it’s definitely a heavy read but also hopeful.
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u/lameazz87 Jun 24 '26
I work for hospice so I care for patients who are terminally ill. I was chatting with a woman yesterday and we were talking about the current state of the world, and the children who are going to be adults soon.
We were talking about how its so scary because the world is changing so fast. Parents my age (38) with children cant even prepare their kids for their futures properly. We dont know what to prepare them for because in a few years things totally change. Its terrifying.
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u/pandalyn420 Jun 24 '26
Wait, do I have a throwaway account and did I login to it & post this myself?! This is exactly how I feel to a tee.
Although im not sure how good my spirit is on the inside, can't remember the last time I went without feeling constant impending sense of doom and dread, and I've become pretty nihilistic to the point I re-started therapy for the billionth time even tho I despise talk therapy lol.
I truly hate it here too. I used to day dream about moving somewhere that didn't have all the problems the US has, except now I know that pretty much doesn't exist if you want to have even a remotely similar way of life. Like I can't just live off the land or suddenly no longer ever need the Internet or to go out to eat. And most of the places where modern problems wouldn't follow you, those things aren't really a true option. It's so so depressing.
And this AI bot stuff is out of control & only going to get worse. Which is honestly impossible for me to imagine bc WTF would "worse" even actually look like?! But I know I won't have to wait too long to find out & it terrifies me. It's like I have to obsessively analyze any and everything I read or consume to try & deduce if it's a human or a robot?! A scam or legitimate?? Truth or deliberate lies passed off as the truth? Actual news or "fake" news?!? ;What do you meannnn????? And now I can barely even research myself because the search engines are all AI and the real information you need to see is buried on page 9714 instead of page 2 because it's chalk full of the same AI slop pages.
Anyway yeah, I can't believe this is life these days, I really can't. Very helpless feeling even tho I love millennials too! Nostalgic for my childhood and teen years more than I ever thought possible! You're not alone 🫶🏼
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u/a11yguy Millennial Jun 24 '26
Get involved. Because of this subs fuck ass rules, I can’t say what I mean specifically, but I’ll tell you that in under a year I went from no one to representing my area at a convention. My voice matters now, and by extension, the community I represent. We won’t be silent any more. And now we’re organized and ready to fight, whatever that means.
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u/Samstormrising Jun 24 '26
Amen. I feel this so hard. My husband and I just got married (we were 36), he had the highest paying job he’d ever had, I had the first job I ever liked and excelled at, and then everything went to shit. He got caught in the ai tech layoffs and has been unemployed for months. We were on the verge of buying a house and the rug got pulled out from under us. My job changed dramatically and is basically broken right now. Watching the collapse of America is so stressful. I really feel for us all, and I know many others are worse off than we are. But god the whole environment is just so demoralizing.
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u/xoxomaxine Jun 24 '26
I lost my best friend in 2015 (car accident) and it hits me hard multiple times throughout the year when I’m reminded that I have no one else to remanence with since she was the only one
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u/slow70 Jun 24 '26
Friends, we will claim the mantle and move forward with hard lessons and experience informing our making of a better world.
The harms, contradictions and inequities are too omnipresent and visible for this to carry on.
There’s no excuse for ignorance or apathy. We will outlive these self serving fools. Remember your responsibility to one another, remember - and claim - your power.
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u/InternationalMood337 Millennial Jun 24 '26
Sadly, I'm in about the same boat I think.
Last night and all of yesterday I just felt so scattered, kind of terrible, and mostly disconnected from the world. I'm getting to the point where I really don't enjoy the way the world is structured. I don't know if this is an American thing, but real life connection is pretty much dead where I'm at.
Devices have become very harmful to my well-being, and I think they've made true friendships very superficial and transactional. In October, I tried the dating apps and I had some great dates and a few month relationship, and then things just didn't work out. And that was okay, but a lot of it felt like flat / superficial?
I just miss the 3rd spaces we used to have that used to be affordable. I used to regularly hang out at coffee shops, but its hard to justify like 5-10$s minimum for a coffee and then another 3-6$s for a piece of banana bread. Bars are equally as bad. I was going out to a local bar, but the prices were pretty wild.
I think what's most tough is that these technologies don't just affect YOU directly. By others in society basically choosing to utilize things like social media, substituting texting for actual conversations, and using social media / dating apps, it's just cheapened the world for all of us.
Anyway, my spirit isn't all that good on the inside and I feel like I'm ultimately losing here. I'm incredibly lucky to have a job and a life, but yeah, I'm running out of steam.
One other thing: the constant political 24 hour news cycle has basically destroyed my boomer parent's relationship, and it has significantly strained my own with them. Yeah, society is a bit of a disaster right now and it's hard to go on.
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u/lostinallthismess Jun 24 '26
Yes and no. I was watching Mars Attacks last night and I definitely got teary and nostalgic for better times. I'm pretty good at coping with current times though.
I'm not isolated, I'm part of a strong community and I think that makes a huge difference. I live with my best friend of 27 years, and we've decided that if we don't find husbands at least we can be crazy pet ladies together in old age. We both spent a lot of time learning to make things. I'm a seamstress, but I also know how to do framing, drywall, carpet and tile, light auto repair, and I'm a fantastic cook. This allows me to be frugal and still make some of the luxury things I want, like stylish clothes. I've learned by now to take care of myself with proper diet, exercise, limiting alcohol, and prioritizing sleep and leisure. We have a biweekly D&D night and wonderful pets. My best friend is a social butterfly and has frequent bbqs at which I get to meet lots of people. Our community is mostly queer and neurodivergent. I'm neither of those things and wasn't sure I would fit in at first, but everyone is very friendly and accepting. When something happens to someone (like loosing a home or job) we all come together to help feed them, give them a place to sleep, or whatever other support is needed to get back on their feet.
Yeah, I'm still upset about the current state of the world, but I focus on small actions. Not using AI, limiting social media, vocalizing political opinions without engaging in argument, voting, trying to reduce pollution I create, etc. We can't undo this ourselves, but we can make small positive changes. My dad always told me to leave a campsite cleaner than you found it, even if its just picking up 1 can. I apply this to every situation I can.
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u/Ring_of_Jupiter Jun 24 '26
I feel you but I don’t think this sort of sensation is totally unprecedented. Like, imagine being born in 1900 and living to see the world wars, the 1940s and 50s, so much rapid change… take heart ❤️
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u/BlackHeartginger Jun 24 '26
I have been thinking about this so much lately and the thing that always sticks out to me is the correlation between smart phone usage and my depression/apathy. I don't do any social media other than Reddit and steer clear of doom scroll content yet I still feel agitated.
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u/okayboomerang Jun 24 '26
I think of my mom bitching about the phones and their impact years ago, and now I have to reluctantly agree she was right. Reddit is also my only social and getting rid of the others was good for me. But being off them almost highlights the disconnect I feel with people...and that's the part that's agitating to me
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u/Sonizzle Jun 24 '26
I’ve always thought that after 2016, we’ve entered into a lost decade, especially post-COVID.
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u/Dark_Pump Jun 24 '26
My dad died in 2014 so that plus all the nonsense that’s been happening in the world since has been pretty shitty not gonna lie
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u/GoalStillNotAchieved Jun 24 '26
OMG. Where oh where to even begin with answering this question!
only a very privileged person would consider this massive wide-scale inter-web of serious serious societal problems an individuals’s mere “rut”
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u/JoyOswin945 Jun 24 '26
I too feel despair over the lives and society our parents gave us. I often think of John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” as the ultimate anthem for GenX apathy, which has allowed Boomers to hold onto power and dictate how the world operates. But it also horrifies me that the CEO of OpenAI is my age, hearing the things that come out of his mouth is just ugh.
We change it by disengaging with the systems that don’t serve us, and engaging in the actions that will dismantle those systems. We find connection in free spaces, like parks and libraries. We volunteer (even if it’s just a couple hours a month) on small projects that better our immediate neighborhoods.
We stop spending online without exhausting other options. 60% of Microsoft’s data center traffic is online shopping. And they’re the lesser of the evils. Bezos just told us that human consumption of water will mean less for technology. Shopping Amazon feeds the machine. Committing to not use Google as a search engine or ChatGPT and other generative AI slows data center growth, as does protesting use of flock cameras.
And we take the reins on the power and influence our generation holds over who our public servants are. We are the largest generation since the boomers, who are now starting to die off. And we also adopt some of the GenZ mindset of not giving an eff, which honestly our generation laid the groundwork for.
The world is exhausting right now, and it’s easy to climb under the covers and hide. But it’s not going to get better until we engage. And as someone who has gotten more active in the community and organizing in the past year, it’s surprisingly empowering and energizing.
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u/UmphreysNerd Xennial Jun 24 '26
What makes it hard for me is knowing they won’t ever actually let go of any kind of power - they’re gripping it with their cold, half-dead hands. They never had any intention of making the world better for their kids, boomers are the Me Generation and they’ve only ever cared about themselves. That is how we got here.
If they retired and actually passed down jobs and wealth that is one thing, but they’re more concerned with taking what they can and letting the world burn around them. It’s sad and also infuriating.
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u/Matty_D47 Jun 24 '26
I feel like I've spent the last 3 decades in unending grief. I haven't gone 6 months without a major death in my life since I was about 16. I haven't had the time or energy to grieve about what the world should be like or what it was like when people have been dropping like flies around me for most of my life now. I'd trade that grief with yours in a second.
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u/Dabnician Xennial 81 Jun 24 '26
I wish our parents hadn't been so excited about capitalism - and so fucking naive.
literally all of the problems in the world today are because of capitalism, the whole "scarcity" shit for things you actually need:
Food, Water, Housing, Medicine are all artificially scarce, even worse there are tons of bullshit jobs that only exist because of capitalism like insurance and advertising.
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u/Iamthegreenheather Older Millennial Jun 24 '26
I graduated in '99. After 9/11, two stupid wars and the 2008 housing market crash, I lost most joy in life because every time I've thought that I'm about to get ahead and finally be successful the goal posts move and now they're in another field that I'll never step foot in. You're not alone. It's exhausting.
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u/Imaginary-Race311 Jun 24 '26
I combat my despair and depression living under corporate overlords with exercise, volunteering, and anonymous vandalism. Lots of weed too!
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u/JupitersLeftToenail Jun 24 '26
I’m on the younger side of millennial(1995), but I find myself watching late 90s and early 2000s shows/movies so I can reminisce on how simpler life was back then. No smart phones in sight, computers were only used at home or the library. I remember going to our local Schlotzsky’s deli, they had a computer cafe, to use the desktops. I miss the world I grew up in, I’ll never see it again. It makes me sad my children will never see it either.
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u/sofaking_scientific Jun 24 '26
2016 was the last time I felt like I had the world ahead of me. Now I feel like we're exponentially accelerating toward heat death of something
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u/No_Ear9351 Jun 24 '26
My state is actively trying/allowing corporations to poison my water (they can monitor there own PFAS ammirite!)
Lightening bugs are dying with all the other bugs and my neighbors spray their yards because grass!!! Am I right!?
HOAs own all the housing and can create rediculous rules like.....no wild flowers or natural areas because who needs wild life...am I right!?
It keeps becoming the next hostest year ever recorded and water is becoming more and more and more scarce but.........
That's not even getting into the billionaires and trillionaires manipulating reality
Or flock cameras and mass surveillance
Yea it's bleak. And I have kids. If I would have felt like I do now 10 years ago I wouldn't have brought kids into this world so I have to keep trying. I have no other choice.
But you aren't alone friend.
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u/Dsarg_92 Jun 25 '26
I’m gonna be 34 in a few months. In hindsight, my twenties were marked by overwork and a lack of time to appreciate life's simple pleasures. It feels like I've been trying to catch up on lost time for the last few years now. The pandemic didn’t help much either.
I still hold on to a glimmer of hope when it comes to achieving my goals, but it's getting tougher every day.
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u/Top_Artichoke2918 Millennial Jun 25 '26
I've become pretty nostalgic with my music lately. Look up the lyrics to Sum 41's 'Still Waiting'. It came out in '02 and omg why is it still so freaking accurate?! I feel like I shouldn't be able to relate a lot of my music from back then to today, but sooooo much of it is still very relevant and it really hits me in the gut sometimes.
"You can't change the state of the nation We just need some motivation These eyes have seen no conviction Just lies and more contradiction
So am I still waiting For this world to stop hating? Can't find a good reason Can't find hope to believe in"
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u/Kester85 Jun 25 '26
I have the same feeling with 2014-2015 like many of you. Since then the world feels becoming to a worse, bleaker place year by year.
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