This thread about how people grow old today went viral because it nails it so well
13.
But something else that happens – and I notice this so keenly in myself these days – is a sense of panic, that we’re getting older and running out of time and *we haven’t even grown the fuck up yet*.
Think about that for a second.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
14.
We’re not complaining about how we’re getting old, or at least I’m not. That’s not what makes my stomach quivery. It’s the sense that the world is speeding up and speeding up and I’m running out of time and I don’t own a house and I don’t have kids and oh my god what the fuck
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
15.
We’re not in a mid-life crisis. Millennials are experiencing a *goddamn crisis of temporality*. We don’t know if we’re old. We don’t know if we’re young. We don’t know what we’re doing. We’ve lost our guideposts, our benchmarks, our rubrics for life.
And people blame us for it.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
16.
And it really doesn’t help that we’re approaching middle age (WHATEVER THAT EVEN MEANS ANYMORE) in an deeply toxic economic system, with a global future currently very much in doubt, and our parents won’t stop fucking us over.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
17.
So the next time you hear a Millennial in their thirties complaining about feeling old, maybe listen to the words behind the words. Because we are living through some shit.
Also our knees and backs hurt and we don’t have health insurance.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
18.
Also there’s a very real prospect that many of us won’t be able to afford to retire. We’re not the only generation facing that, or the only generation that’s ever faced that, but you need to understand that we’re facing that in the context of having been lied to.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
19.
Oh, and please don’t respond to this with “other people have gone through this too” because
A) I know, I do social-historical academic work
B) Every generation experiences similar trends in different ways and we are experiencing *radical* differences from what our parents did.— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
20.
I’m not going to go into an even longer Twitter essay about atemporality but please just understand that this is not something about which I am prepared to argue. It’s just true.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
21.
Oh, and additional caveat: I’m not even beginning to get into race and class here because this is a twitter thread not an academic paper and I don’t feel equipped right now to give that the attention it deserves; just be aware that I know I’m oversimplifying a lot here.
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
22.
AND quick denouement: just to make things nice and confusing for me personally I’m 34 and this is my hair and no it is not dyed 😃 pic.twitter.com/9B2nLOHpmZ
— Spoopy Moraine 👻🎃 (@dynamicsymmetry) October 1, 2018
And here’s a flavour of how people responded.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD. I am turning 38 this month. I am either the youngest year of Gen X or the oldest year of Millenial. And while there are many things I don’t feel like I am a Millennial about b/c wow I feel so much older and different than many…
— Laura (@hlauraeliz) October 2, 2018
Really interesting thread about seeking meaning behind a lack of generational milestones. https://t.co/HMS3VDp3R7
— Scott H. (@HooteyOwl) October 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/offbyoni/status/1047012868087058433
This whole thread is amazing. More than that though… I’ve felt like I’m the only person feeling this way. I feel a little less alone now, so thank you.
— Cazzie (@scribblingninja) October 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/DrPsyBuffy/status/1046967143114395650
I’m 36, and WOW… so much of what you describe I thought was just me. I pretty much never grew up, even though I’ve been in the Army, married and divorced, no kids, no house, no future. I want to be successful, but I feel like I’m running out of time and spinning my wheels.
— Daniel F. Walthall (Commissions Open!) (@Axebane) October 1, 2018