My Weathered Perspective
I feel a certain level of sadness for cookie cutter Millenial kids. It feels like they’re each living in a hellish little fish bowl, always worried about others’ perceptions of them. Perhaps that’s due to social media and how it’s made everyone’s private affairs a public spectacle. Or maybe it’s always been that way and my 44 years of life have colored my memory over time. Here’s how I addressed this issue with a particular youngster who is overly concerned with appearances: “I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I’ve been through a lot. I wouldn’t have survived if my attitude was that of a contemporary twenty-something. And it’s not that I don’t care about how other people feel. I care very deeply, almost too deeply, about others. It’s just that I don’t really care what people think of me. And quite frankly, other people’s opinions of me are not my business. “Nobody gets to middle age without going through stuff. My father died suddenly the same we...