someone asked, “what happens when we keep waking up in a world that was supposed to end?”

and as someone on the cusp of millennial and gen z, i’ve seen the emergence of 2 new worlds:

for millennials, this world was always changing. from new technology to new crises and new promises, we were told to follow the traditional path of school, job, house, family, while being told we were the new leaders of change. (que obama’s “yes we can” campaign and the era of hope, followed by the rise of hipster culture and young adult dystopian movies). we adapted rapidly and tried working towards a better world. and even when we fell short of that expectation, we were told that “everything was gonna be ok.” so we held onto that optimism and turned to nostalgia for comfort which often gets ridiculed for childlike naivety.

for gen z, this world was filled with uncertainty. from a global pandemic to environmental collapse and political polarization - we were no longer told to adapt, but to survive… while also changing the world. that meant being visible, relevant, and productive under the watchful gaze of our peers and strangers. everything became a competition so we couldn’t fall behind on anything including (micro) trends, wellness, and self-optimization. loss of identity and commodification of the self became the price to pay for survival. so we were forced to grow up fast and grew pessimistic when the stability and change that was promised never came.

both worlds are evolving. both groups are exhausted. but both are still trying to make it another day.

i find myself in a combination of both, but what i learned from the millennial promise of hope is that: if the world insists on waking up tomorrow, then i can insist on at least having a good day.