As a twentysomething who has recently made some major life-changing decisions regarding my career and way of life, this book called my name. I know I'm not the only young adult out there who doesn't feel quite like a grown-up and doesn't think that this stage of life is the same for me as it was for my parents' generation. For those reasons, this book gave me a pretty decent explanation for why I have these feelings. The world is much different now in terms of what life has to offer people who are old enough to make their own decisions but maybe not ready to settle into the stability of marriage and parenthood. Not only is it socially acceptable to spend more time figuring yourself out before settling on a mate, a career, and a path, it's encouraged. The wealth of possibilities is exciting, but it's also overwhelming to have so many options.
One of the things that stuck out most about the book was the chapter about how technology has changed everything. In the "olden days," our parents didn't have to find out what all of their friends were doing without them through constant updates and pictures of the social activities they were missing. When they broke things off with a significant other, they weren't notified anytime a new picture of that person was posted to Facebook or their ex friended someone new. As great as technology can be in helping us maintain social relationships, this "fear of missing out" (aka FOMO) can be torturous. Sometimes I think I'd rather not know what I'm not taking part in but the idea of not knowing can be equally frustrating.
I may have fomo, but at least I know I'm not alone. On to my next pool read...
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