Welcome to my blog! Nice to meet you, sure hope you stay long enough to read!
I’ve been thinking about writing a blog for a long time. No better time than the present, right? Why did I not start one before? One simple reason.
I. Am. Normal.
Isn’t normal kind of boring?
Yeah, it is. Isn’t it?
Who wants to be normal? Not me.
So what has changed? Why start a blog now, when I’m so normal? There are so many reasons to start, but here it is in a nutshell. I’m going to be 42 this year. I’ve written a novel that I’m working on getting published. I am a passionate volunteer. I have two (adorable) rescue dogs. I’m full on into menopause, which is making me pretty sarcastic, I work a full time job in the Medical Device industry by day, and my (soon to be) 80 year old mother lives with me.
So yeah, my life is totally normal. And I don’t want it to be anymore. I’m on a search – for change. For inspiration. For validation. For fun.
And that’s what makes it so interesting right now. My generation is hitting middle age. I’ve heard us referred to as the “Sandwich Generation”. That is, the generation simultaneously taking care of parents and children. If I had any children, I guess I’d be included in that. Alas, no kids. Since I’m pretty sure reduced dogs don’t count as one side, I’m kind of like an open faced turkey sandwich – you know, the ones with mashed potatoes (yum!) and a ton of gravy. While the turkey can be dry, and the mashed potatoes sticky, and the gravy messy, let’s face it: After thanksgiving, you want one. You really, really want one.
So what’s so interesting about this? We’re not the “talker” generation. We left that to the millennials. Every next generation is supposed to be better than the last, right? So we had the Greatest Generation, who bore the tremendous burden of literally saving the world by themselves. They returned from war and they kept their stories to themselves.
They gave birth to the next generation. The generation that saw the success of their parents, and wanted to emulate it. But that generation figured out that carrying a burden silently can not only be painful, but damaging. They started to blow the lid off of topics, one at a time. Domestic Abuse, Homelessness, Veterans returning from war. They continued what their parents started. And they had the next generation. That’s where I came into the world.
So how do I see us “Gen Xers” (Aka, the sandwich generation)? We’re a generation of people who want to communicate and don’t know how. We’re a generation who was ok with the system until the system wasn’t ok. We are a generation who may not see the benefits of social security, but really don’t know how to plan for our future, because our parents had a fall back. We watch our parents retire, and see that as a goal for ourselves, and we want it, but we’re not sure how to get there. And so we flounder.
But man, we’ve got values! We care for others. We want equality. We want to make sure we leave the world a better place. We just really have no idea how to get there.
What do we want? All the things! When do we want them? NOW!
But deep down, every Gen Xer asks themselves the same question Every. Damn. Day. “Am I normal? How do I measure up?”
And that, my friends, is why I’m writing. I am normal. I’m human. And maybe by sharing that with everyone who reads this, they’ll feel normal too, and understand that we’re all normal, and we’re all in this thing together.
So what’s this blog for? Not to tell you if your rash is normal…sorry. :). This is a place to go to touch a base. You may not hit a home run, but you’ll get safely to first. You’ll hear my life philosophy, my reasons for this normality, and maybe laugh a little. But by seeing into my soul, it will lighten yours a little.
So, won’t you join me in my Evolution Allocution?