Then I Was…

In the past ~120 years, humanity has undergone more change than it had from the birth of Jesus ’til the Industrial Revolution. Take a second to contemplate how this idea functions in your own life.

Every day, we humans communicate with one another. We need to communicate with each other to make plans for the day, accomplish a task at work, or to make each other laugh. Our ability to communicate is what distinguishes us as humans, and is a fundamental piece to the puzzle of our progress as a species. I’m not sure if this is how it has always been, but recently I’ve noticed that a lot of my communications with folks are going something like this:

Brennan: “Hey (blank) what’s going on? How are we?”

Blank: “Hey Brennan, you know, doing alright. How are you?”

Brennan: “Yeah, same.”

It’s been a concern to me for quite some time now that nobody my age ever seems genuinely happy outside of ~48 hours from Friday to Sunday (This happiness also seems to be artificially fueled by alcohol and other drug intake from Friday to Sunday, but that’s a topic for another day). From every work call, conversation with my roommates, or phone call I have with a friend, I see more and more how us supposedly successful young adults are very clearly not thriving in our early days as employees of corporate America.

The idea that none of my friends (most of whom are gainfully employed and college graduates. Privilege baby!!) are truly happy with their current life situation is perplexing. From a young age, I was told that if I go to school (We Are, baby!!), get a good job, and am kind to other people, I will find fulfillment and enjoy my life. I’m sure all of my friends received a similar message. But still, here we are, living as young professionals and yearning for more achievement and more happiness. We are just going through the motions each day, and it isn’t enough.

This life idea is one that I contemplate daily, and as I was walking through the park by my house the other day, I decided I would try to understand this complex issue by researching and writing about it. Through my reading, my own experiences, and listening to podcasts on this topic so far, I have concluded that people are unhappy because the lives we all lead are unnatural. When I say unnatural, I mean that we have strayed away from the direction in which our bodies and minds have evolved resulting in our bodies & minds negatively reacting to our daily operations as humans. Whether we are living unnaturally by being on our mini-computers for 5 hours a day or by eating bullshit processed food from McDonald’s, it only makes sense that these new behaviors would have a detrimental impact on our daily well-being.

This post is an introduction to the journey that we (Heidi and Brennan) will be taking to understand the puzzling question of why nobody seems to be genuinely happy as young adults. We will cover topics ranging from nutritional impacts of our American diets to the negative impacts that TV has on our attention and mental health. We will address the stark differences in day to day life that resulted in the social / economic changes that have occurred in American history since then, and explain our stances on some issues along the way.

So, join us on this journey, and feel free to ask us anything along the way. We want everyone to learn just as much as we do and for this to be as entertaining as possible. Hope everyone is well. Much love.

Heidi’s piece:

It’s discouraging to me to hear that so many young adults are barely making it through the week, and only living it up on the weekends because of drugs and alcohol. The last few years have really taken a toll on our collective mental health. I try to sound upbeat when I talk to the younger coworkers in my office. I want them to have as positive a work experience as we can create. And I guess it works to some degree, but I know there’s been a definite uptick in mental health days lately. It’s good that young adults these days have a better handle on their mental health – not all of them of course, but a lot of them. Concepts like depression, anxiety, and ADHD were things I only heard about in my psych classes when I was 22. Now these issues seem to be part of every dialogue for some twenty somethings. It’s good to address mental health issues, and certainly no one should ever be ashamed if they’re struggling with anxiety or depression, but it does make me wonder what we’ve been doing to our kids for the past 20 years to make them so aware of these issues.

Maybe looking at how things have changed will give us a renewed appreciation for how things are now. For things that we take for granted now – indoor plumbing in every house, antibiotics, amazing advances in healthcare. And maybe we can learn something from a time when life was more precarious, but simpler.

For right now, maybe one of the best things we can do for each other is just check in. Send a hello text – for no real reason. A funny meme (like the poor drenched owl that I sent to Brennan this week that made us both laugh) can make someone smile when they’re having a tough day. And, although I know a lot of people are not into talking on the phone – there is no replacement for hearing someone’s voice to know how they’re truly feeling. Texts are easy to fudge, and I know you all type fast – but you can tell your mom about your job, the brunch you went to, the fantastic job you did on a project, the boring af meeting on Tuesday, and what you’re making for dinner, with your own special flair if you give them a call instead (or FaceTime them). Plus, hearing someone’s voice is the next best thing to a hug (unless you’re pissed off and screaming – then not so much.)

I’m looking forward to exploring how things have changed – for better and for worse – over the years, and how it’s impacted different parts of daily life. And since I’ve got a few more years to look back on than Brennan, it will be an interesting trip. I bet we can get some awesome contributions from our readers too. Hope you’ll consider following the series as we talk about changes to food, technology, healthcare, transportation – you name it. It’s going to be an adventure!