“Every generation trash-talks the younger generations….tattooed slackers, materialists or iPhone-addicted brats.”- Neil Blumenthal A few days ago I was given a crash course in trending terms in speech which left me feeling hugely dated! I was asked , “are you cool or are you ‘cheugy’, are you ‘vibing’ yet, and I must admit, it ‘snatched my weave off’! And I had to rush to add ‘say less’ to mean ‘I get the point’!! Yes language is evolving faster and faster….I find myself smiling weakly at a vocabulary I thought I knew! I will probably need more ‘me time’ to catch up on these bewildering trends. What the hell is ‘me time’? Google says, ‘me time’ is time spent relaxing on one’s own, seen as an opportunity to reduce stress and restore energy…I wanted to explore this trending obsession with it. My client, Rakesh, 27, says he works 50 hrs a week at a marketing job, also plays guitar in a band, performing gigs every week, is training for a marathon, catches up with family and friends and oh yes, wants to eat ‘healthy’ so has joined a special cooking school. He says his life is a balancing act and rarely has even a second to himself! Rakesh is an adult, no one is making him do this…so , I guess, he runs, plays music and cooks because he enjoys these activities. He describes them as soul-nurturing and of course they are fulfilling leisure-time interests too. So could we say that this is his ‘me time’? I’d say yes! Though his definition is probably shifty. Music and cooking restore my energy and I suppose they restore Rakesh’s energy too, otherwise why would he do them? And isn’t that ‘me time’? I think that what often happens in life is that claiming to have no ‘me time’ is not a question of actual time but more about feeling like you have made too many commitments. These may be things you really love to do and they’re freely chosen by you but they aren’t solo downtime. So ‘me time’ would qualify as time spent doing things ‘by’ yourself. Since this has been met with loads of criticism, it is increasingly being called the ‘Me Decade’ which is supposedly populated by entitled, arrogant, spoilt and preening adults, the signature of our youth today….which, to me, is narrowly defined and needs an alternate and broader perspective. I’d say they appear to be more individualistic, not because they’re selfish but they’re less bound by social rules and regulations….there’s a new boldness in their choices. When we accuse a gadget-obsessed generation of apathy do we also ask ourselves who takes advantage of the Internet the most? Who has the most affordable access to information and is also the most digitally literate? Yes, Gen z! This, of course, makes them appear to be more self-centered and narcissistic, but their assertiveness could be high self-esteem and self-importance as well. They are more intelligently concerned with their own self-care before doing so for others and they certainly believe that caring for themselves is not self-indulgence but self-preservation. As we look around us for proof of this we can see how today’s generation spends more on self-care essentials like workout regimens, personal trainers, diet plans and life-coaching than any other generation before them. So it’s not all bad! Increased awareness is a powerful tool! All this new information has lead to more sensitivity to differences of others experiences and situations and thereby increased awareness of mental health issues. Being exposed to so much they’ve also seen a lot and are far more aware of what exists and what’s needed ….so also the rise in attention to emotions as a healing aide and is an intelligence by itself. This is the first generation that is giving importance to how we feel. From my perspective the ‘me time’ decade is the youth that recognise that old institutions aren’t working. It’s not that they don’t want to participate but they don’t trust that their participation will make a difference in the way they would like. I believe that they are very aware of their civic environment but in a different way….they aren’t interested in politics per se but in social change and they are finding creative, innovative ways to make a difference. More power to them and their ‘me time’! Happy New Year! Cheers! Until next time…. |
Ritu Malhotra |
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