The Angsty Generation

Angst, often confused with anxiety, is a transcendent emotion in that it combines the unbearable anguish of life with the hopes of overcoming this seemingly impossible situation.  http://www.urbandictionary.com

Angst. A common experience of my life. I feel stuck in the middle. An ongoing situation where I see the forest, but everyone is seeing the trees. As I ponder about it, I place the reason on knowledge.

As the first generation with access to the internet, I soak up information and think in terms of analytical models of decision making. Working in an IT company for the first ten years of my career didn’t help. The knowledge economy bases any decision on reviewing, well, knowledge. Best practices from across the globe, interviews with subject matter experts. Collate all the information before arriving at a conclusion. First see how it’s done somewhere else.  

I apply all these to every aspect of life – social issues like the current cultural introspections on rape and the status of women. Cultural and political issues like the freedom to choose a partner, the career of your choice despite the gender dominion of the field, whether or not to have a child, or eat meat. Work related circumstances like creating culture change and employee engagement.   

Angst. The overwhelming feeling I have had throughout my adult years, and wonder if it’s common to my generation. It’s trying to convince people about ideas before their time, while balancing the need to respect their opinions and individuality. It’s the need to create change that just will not go away.

We are the first generation to harness the massive volumes of knowledge available to us and feel the overwhelming need to use it. We are the unique generation that lives in the digital globalized present, but understand the generations of the past. This gives us the incredible and frustrating advantage of being the only ones that can bridge the society of the past with the society of the future. Knowledge gives us a feeling of empowerment, but the values of the past we grew up with enable us to converse confidently with respected elders in a non-threatening manner.

We see seeing things as they should be and say, ‘Why not?’ And then beginning the countless conversations that create angst. 

Urban dictionary goes on to clarify - angst without hope is simply anxiety. I recognize the restlessness. I feel the need to do something with all this angst. Are we the generation that will change the paradigms for the next generation? The middle children, who understand both elder and younger siblings? The next generation will feel no connection to nor comprehension of the past, knowledge is like breathing to them.

As I write this, what I really want to know is, is this just me? Are there others out there in the Angsty generation?