Lost art of proper relaxation

[dannyk]

Being a part of the generation that is unemployed, under employed, dissatisfied with what we do. I could go on forever about cultural and governmental and generational failures. And perhaps I’ll touch on those haha but I’ll speak only of my experience. My upbringing was very middle class. My mother neve went to college but always found work and gets by. My dad went to a vocational college for some electronics degree and has worked for Verizon as a technician for 31 years. He worked out of town, 3rd shift, call-ins, and insane OT for the first 10-15 years of my life to get by. To give my family a good life. I was born in 1986. During the 90s the economy seemed to be doing nothing but growing. Obviously tides did not rise evenly for all demographics but grow they did in some degree. For a white middle class family it made my life more than comfortable. But what the 90s and early 2000s did to my generation is tell me get a degree there’s a million jobs, the money is there, everyone will own a home. Life is relatively safe and free and getting more so all the time. I graduated high school in 2004, by the time most of my friends and I would be graduating college or just entering college if they took a few years of was 2008. The economic downturn that happened changed everything. To many of my generation now in our late 20s to mid 30s owning a home can seem a dream. Starting a family impossible. College didn’t solve everything, Wall Street robbed us blind, the greed of our parents generation (and no not everyone and the greed didn’t seem bad at the time, if I were alive then and in decision making positions i would have beloved many of the same ideas) took a lot of that way. Now painters, carpenters, plumbers, tailors, cobblers can make a fortune. And all those degrees hang on walls or sit in desks collecting dust. No one generation is completely useless nor blameless, we can and have to do better. But I can’t stress enough the see no evil haze of the 90s ruined us. Degrees mean nothing when everyone has one, when sub prime loans are given to everyone housing is wrecked, when taxes are slashed and slashed there is no trickle down. So following this thread and seeing where it ended up was fun haha. But that’s my thought from the generation mentioned of why the skills are gone and why we don’t value those things. We were told they were dead. It was drilled into us to get that degree and not to worry, once you had that everything was unlocked.

 

[camjr]

I'll resurrect a dead thread. I strive for time alone every day, whether walking the dog, cycling on solo rides, or kicking back with a nice pour of a good whiskey. I like being alone with my thoughts. Last night was a good example. I spent the day with my elderly father, taking him to lunch, organizing his medication for a 3 week period (his short term memory is shot and if it wasn't in organizers, he wouldn't take it), and spending the rest of the time with the lovely Mrs. Camjr. She ducked out after getting home for a pedicure, which meant I knew I had time alone by the fire last night since she couldn't wear socks and shoes that evening!!

Cheers