Michael P. Mazenko has been writing his blog since 2008. He recently wrote a piece in honor of the 25th anniversary of Douglas Coupland’s seminal work, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. He characterizes the McLives of Generation X as a stealth revolution for a more authentic life. I loved that.
For the last generation to ride bikes without helmets, to sit on our grandparents’ laps unbuckled in the front seat, to ride carefree and open in the back of a pickup, to run with scissors, Generation X is a population that has grown up unflappable against the doubts and suspicions of the world. Historically, people view Generation X in terms of the years from 1961 to 1981, but that decades-wide span doesn’t offer much in terms of identity. Identity crystallizes when we come of age, and, truly, the defining moments of Generation X can be bookended by memories of two falls – the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the fall of the Twin Towers in 2001. One fall came as we were stutter-stepping into adulthood, and the other as we settled into careers and parenting. Each event rattled the collective consciousness of the world, and each demanded reflection and recalculation of institutions and belief systems. Throughout it all, Gen Xers have carried on, oblivious and dismissive of being a generation at all.
Continue reading here. You can also follow Michael on Twitter.
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