Twenty-Something, Life Thru Our Eyes

I come from a generation that doesn't know life before MTV existed. For those of you older, that may sound hard to believe and even scary. I can't recall if my age bracket is called Generation X or Generation Y, but those of us in our 20s all have pretty much the same outlook on life. We see and feel things very similar to our peers. Those younger than us have not yet had these experiences and those older than us may not always be able to look back on their own life and relate to a time when they were often the confused twenty-something-year-old. I may be old enough to have watched the DotCom Boom, but I was too young to really get a piece of it. I graduated college and entered the workforce as the DotCom Boom had turned to a bust.

Because I grew up with MTV, shows like "The Real World" have been on TV for as long as I can remember, over 15 seasons in fact. I think The Real World couldn't be a bigger joke for the title. There is nothing "real" about the world those twenty-somethings live in. They are matched up with beautiful roommates. They are given an incredible party palace to live in and destroy. They are handed jobs without ever having to interview for them. They work at these jobs half-assed and then are rewarded for their lack luster efforts with a free vacation to a remote island. To top it off, all along this show's journey they are living a life of doing nothing but drinking and having sex 24/7. Now that was fine in college, but this is supposed to be "the real world". A world where you are supposed to be making a life for yourself on your own. It's a time when the college party days are over. A time when you cut the purse strings from Mom and Dad, move out on your own, get a real job and get a real life. It's a time when you are supposed to be grownup and acting like a mature adult even though mentally/emotionally some of your choices along the way are anything but mature decisions. In short, it's a learning experience. A stage in which you discover much about those around you and even more about yourself. For the first time you are really seeing the world for how it really is. Those of us who didn't get picked by MTV to live in their version of "the real world" know what it's like to actually live in the non-staged television produced version of the real world. This is our reality, our real world. This is a glimpse of what life is like thru the eyes of one who is twenty-something. This is how we really live and feel...

They call it the "Quarter-Life Crisis". It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones.

You look at your job and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom - and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone, but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook-ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over. You talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself...and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!