Mythical Millennial #15: “Everything that shine ain’t always gonna be gold”
I’ve been thinking a lot about the past lately. We so-called millennials have been accused of jumping on the nostalgia bandwagon many, many times — myself included. Over the holidays I found myself gleefully starting up the Pokémon Go app after a hiatus to hunt for Pikachus with Santa hats. Did I kick myself for falling for the gimmick? Sure. Did I have any regret? No way — I had caught my very first Pikachu, and it was festive.
The Debrief once called us ‘the most nostalgic generation ever’. We fill up our Timelines with ‘On This Day’ memories, revel in our cutest baby photos on #ThrowbackThursday, and consume remakes and reboots with gusto. (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is starring in not one, but two: Baywatch and Jumanji are both barreling their way onto our screens this summer.)
What is it about the millennial pursuit of happiness that makes us look back, and not forward? The etymology of the word sheds some light: the Greek root words of ‘nostos’ (to return home) and ‘algos’ (pain) suggest two things: that we long to return to a past we perceive as simpler and happier. However, as we cannot, we substitute it with physical manifestations of our rose-coloured memories. Whether it be vibing in our vintage school Doc Martens or listening to David Bowie on vinyl, we hold on to the familiar. As we embark on a new era (goodbye Barack, ugh, Donald) I think our generation has to. Seek comfort where you can find it, friends. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.
Latest research from The Prince’s Trust has apparently revealed that young people are the unhappiest they’ve been in a decade. I covered this for Debut in a lot more detail, but just wanted to zoom in a little on something I found particularly troubling.
The research has revealed that current 16–25 year-olds have extremely low levels of self-belief. More than a quarter of survey participants (28%) agreed with the statement “I don’t feel in control of my life.” Of those results, 61% state that their own self-confidence holds them back. Confidence in emotional health and well-being is at an all-time rank of 70. If this doesn’t highlight a major mental health crisis for youth, I honestly don’t know what does.
Last night’s truly lovely #LetMeFemsplain chat on mental health gives me a little bit of hope, though. I’m a big believer in #TalkingAboutIt (shout-out to Sammy Nickalls for coining the hashtag), and believe that more discourse and education will likely help combat the youth confidence issue. Here’s to hoping.
I realise that this is probably the most-played song on the planet right now, but Ed Sheeran’s new offering seemed apt for this letter’s theme.
Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran
Lovely readers, I want to hear a little more about you. Getting personal emails nowadays is like manna from heaven, so, if you’ve read this far down, I’d love for you to answer this question:
What’s one thing that’s been giving you joy lately? Whether it be a new flavour of tea or if you’ve discovered a Netflix hidden gem, I want to hear about your little glimpses of happiness.
Alternatively, you could tweet me @brendaisarebel if you like. ✨
See you in two weeks, peeps.
B x
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Originally published on Mythical Millennial.
