This Generation’s Greatest War is Fighting to Get Back Our Inner Child

Remember when we were kids, when every single colorful image or tingly sound could easily entertain us? We don’t do that anymore. Somewhere along the road to adulthood, we started becoming critical and cynical about every little thing – including things we were meant to enjoy. Somehow, we stopped enjoying what’s supposed to be entertainment.

When was the last time you sat in the cinema and just took in what you were watching?

When was the last time you played an album and danced like there was no tomorrow?

When was the last time you went to a concert and had zero complaints about the performances (including those from the opening acts you probably haven’t heard of before)?

When was the last time you dressed up and put makeup on because it was what you wanted and not what society dictated was cool?

When was the last time you went to a museum to actually look at what was on display instead of taking photos “for the ‘Gram”?

When was the last time you finished a book without bitching about how the author’s older stuff were so much better?

When was the last time you went on a hike or visited a beach without touching your cellphone?

When was the last time you prepared a meal or went out to a restaurant and just ate the food, sitting alone or with friends and enjoying what was in front of you?

When was the last time you traveled because you wanted to, and not because all your peers are doing it?

Gone are the days when people have done the above and many more without giving a fuck what other people think. Today, everyone’s a critic and everyone’s just trying to one-up each other (mostly on social media, at that). Every movie is too lame. Every song is too manufactured. Every concert is not worth your money, while every festival has become a fashion show. Every outfit and makeup look is just for shock value. Every museum is now just a backdrop. Every book is just living room decor. Every outdoor adventure is just a public display of you being fit and in touch with nature. Every meal or brunch is just to prove you can afford avocado toast and $20 mimosas. Every flight or train ride is just to fill up a passport while draining your bank account because you feel everyone else your age has traveled to 20 other places you haven’t.

We need to be kids again. We need to enjoy life again – and this time, for the right reasons.

At a time when everything seems to be going to shit, we should learn to live a little. Maybe it’s upon the current generations to solve these problems we unfortunately were born into, but that shouldn’t stop us from experiencing joy in its purest, most unadulterated form.

“Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won’t. We’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.” -Tyler Durden in Fight Club