The world I grew up in during the 1970-ties in the
countryside was, in a sense, an easier world to navigate than the world today. I
did not experience any pressure of having to look a certain way or to become
incredibly successful. You were OK no matter how you looked or what you were
wearing or what you wanted to become. The most common goal in life was to make
it through high school and get a decent job to support yourself. Then you should
meet a sweetheart at the local outdoor dance hall, get married and start a
family. You’d then spend your summers in a caravan with your spouse and your
kids and the circle of life can continue. The career advice given in the
schools were practical and simple and usually did not encourage any other
expectations of the future. This world was easy but limiting since you “knew”
your choices and what was expected of you.
There were no mobile phones or computers. We had a “regular”
telephone in our kitchen so I used to sit there in the evening after school,
whispering with my best friend when the rest of the family was watching TV. My
mother timed me to make sure I didn’t talk to long because of the phone bill. It
felt like such a freedom when my parents bought an extension cord so we could
use the phone in my mother’s sewing room and close the door as much as possible
without damaging the cord. We had two TV channels and my father decided which
one to watch so there was no room for dispute. On clear nights with good
reception we could listen to Radio Luxemburg that sent the hottest new music in
Europe.
A few of us went out into the world as exchange students or
as au pairs. We then returned after a year or more and most of us continued
with the “get a job and start a family” future.
These adventurers were admired and could tell fascinating stories,
invented or not, about their adventures in foreign lands and the ones that had
stayed put would sigh and look dreamy for a moment.
The world is a different place today and both children and
adults are bombarded with information and choices that didn’t exist in our
minds when I grew up. The choices that are available today are fantastic and I
feel a little envy when I think about the opportunities that are much easier to
reach for young people today. You receive more information and it is easier to
research and find opportunities yourself. You get to choose school and you are
encouraged to get a University degree.
You are supposed to
be all you can be and live your dreams in a happy bliss. This is both fantastic
and very stressful. What if you don’t know what you want? How do you choose
from all the alternatives and possibilities? In the world today I see more
pressure on young people, male and female, that you need to look a certain way
and behave in a certain way. This world gives you more information and options
but also commercial standards on how you are supposed to look, behave and on what
to want for yourself. We have opened up the world but we are not educating our
young ones or ourselves in how to handle all the information so the commercial
pressures that play on weaknesses and insecurities set standards for those not
strong enough to find their own way. This world gives less freedom to those
that cannot say no to the pressures and expectations of the new standard goals.
We cannot all look like Barbie or Ken and have 500+ friends on Facebook. And even if you do, it doesn’t guarantee
happiness.
The world tomorrow has hopefully matured and we are sharing
and learning tools on how to navigate between all the choices and grow into loving,
secure and responsible people. We need to give our children tools for finding
their way and not just give them information, choices and ask them to make
decisions they are not ready to make. We
are all bombarded with information using mobile phones, laptops and tablets. We
are constantly entertained by movies, digital music, audio books and computer
games and are fed commercials integrated in all media. We meet our sweethearts at
online dating sites, discuss with friends in online communities, and make
friends all over the world in online games and forums.
This is all good stuff
if we manage to keep a healthy distance to all the noise and find a quiet place
within ourselves were we can charge our batteries and find our way. Meditation
and to listen to your intuition should be taught from an early age as tools to quiet
the noise and grow roots in real life so you can use the digital world to
enhance your life instead of letting it rule you.
