Our Generation

One thing that I've realized about the 21st century, especially us young folk, is that we live in a very egocentric world. Everything that our peers, colleagues, professors, and especially our friends, is related back to our lives and how we view ourselves as people. Everything is a competition, whether it be about who had more of the flu symptoms last week (hence making them much more sick so we must pity them more), or about who has more technological crafty materials versus who doesn't (those who don't... well, you might as well live in a different country).

It's just kind of sick. And I'll admit, I get caught up in it too. If someone says something as simple as "wow, there are so many birthdays in October" my first response will be "did you know that most babies were actually born in September? That's when I was born." It's as if I'm trying to prove something... something... but I'm not quite sure what. And after I catch myself behaving like that, it'll hit me how silly and pathetic it all is. It's like we have to constantly show off to one another in order to survive in today's society.

I used to have a friend that compared every little minuscule detail to her own life, and constantly felt the need to brag about it. It went from "I was up studying so late last night" from one person to her responding with "YOU were up late last night? Psh... I've been up late every night for the past three weeks!" It got to the point where no one could really say anything without it turning into some sort of oddly intense competition. And it's almost like, well what's the point? Why bother saying it in the first place? What exactly are we trying to prove to one another? Is it all just small talk and we're just pointing out our every day life experiences, or is there really some sort of subconscious desire to impress other people with our trivial actions? Hmm...

Anyway, I don't mean to be negative. I just think it's all rather interesting. I know that me writing all of this will allow me to examine myself as a human and make the right approaches to correct this among my conversations with people. And it's a hard habit to break, because everyone wants to be "on top." We all want to be the most successful people- I mean, it IS America! But let's try to break the norm, and simply listen to others instead of constantly referring back to ourselves. The only people who ever care to hear about our lives, our... us! Well, and maybe our parents :)

Just things to think about! Happy blogging!