A Few Theories on the Self-Care Trend

Why are millennials so obsessed with self-care?

We are living in a generation predominately populated by what journalists have penned as “millennials.” A demographic cohort categorized by birthdates falling between early 1980s to mid-1990s. Most accurately though, a group of kidz classified by one shared characteristic: self-obsession. We’re preoccupied with capturing our best selfies, recruiting our #squad members, and most recently, curating a lifestyle that promotes self-care. Why the sudden inclination to take better care of ourselves? As a millennial myself, I promise I’m not mocking, I’m genuinely curious, which is why I’ve formulated the following theories:

1. We are living in the age of the internet pt. I. We have unlimited access to information. We’re one click away from knowing the ugly truth about wheat, learning the tremendous benefits of meditation, and discovering what an acai bowl looks like. We can identify chia seeds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds in a line up without fail because we’ve been constantly exposed to them, almost always involuntarily. We’ve developed an obsession because we are constantly bombarded with facts and opinions on how to take better care of ourselves. We’re more well-informed and strongly opinionated. We take each new piece of data we receive from the internet and just run with it.

2. We are living in the age of the internet pt. II. We cannot talk about millennials without talking about media. We also cannot talk about trends without talking about more specifically, social media. We are known to be self-absorbed mainly because we have been provided multiple modalities to express ourselves in the forms of 4 x 4 instagram posts or say like, a 150 character tweet. Social media is a fertilized soil where most things blossom into a trend. If we see our friends, followers, and celebrity crushes practicing #selfcare, then why not do the same? Why not jump in the wellness wagon and keep the wheels turning? In the world of social media, we’re all influencers.

3. Busy is a buzzword and we’re sick of it. We are living in a generation of go getters: never calm, never collected, and only composed by the very fear of not getting that promotion. We’re overachievers and often anxiety driven. We glorify “busy” because we’re validated by the idea that the more things we get done, the more we feel accomplished. Coffee is romanticized and all-nighters are something to brag about. We’re simply fed up. We’re reclaiming our time and spending it on recharging our internal energy, creating meaningful experiences, and becoming more aware of “self” and ultimately, tending to it. In a way, self-care is revolting against a society that demands so much from us.

4. Our healthcare system sucks and we all know it. We hate going to the doctors and we don’t trust big pharma. When it comes to chronic disease, we search for alternatives because conventional medicine has been infamously known to fail our nation. Also, because we’re millennials which means we’re entitled to options. It is our birthright to explore the healing power of herbs, the harmonizing effects of essential oils, and the energizing properties of crystals. We’re open to change, open to experiment. We’re taking better care of ourselves because Uncle Sam is no longer looking out for us.

5. We can’t afford health insurance so we make up for it in avocado toast. We lack health insurance because previous said theory. This is a national problem that entrepreneurs (the people who are good at tending) have chosen to market. They have created a capitalist niche from our disbelief and distrust on healthcare system and branded it as the self-care movement. We forgo the idea of paying $500 a month to BCBS and instead direct our attention to $10 green smoothies, $100 yoga memberships, and every now then, some really expensive bath oil. Self-care is flourishing because marketers have made millennials the target for pro-health, anti-disease consumption and we’re all buying into it.

The self-care trend among millennials can easily be explained by our defining characteristic of self-obsession. But will this suffice? Sure, we may seem to be more genetically coded with entitlements and bragging rights but why not consider the environmental factors that leads us to turn this predisposition into a trend? The availability of a hashtag, the glorification of busy, and the lack of healthcare promises could be the very driving forces of the self-care culture. And even if our self-obsession makes us prone to taking better care of ourselves, is that even a bad thing?

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the missed appointment

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a web series on self-care reminders @themissedappt

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