This past weekend while in Columbus, my brother and I were reminiscing on past birthdays and presents as we celebrated our 23rd and 25th birthdays. (Don’t let the age fool you, we are really about 8 and 10 when we are together. I still think I can beat a 6’4’’ guy at arm wrestling, try to outwit him, make everything a competition, and of course any dispute is settled by footrace, because clearly whoever is faster wins the argument, right?!?!) Anyways, we came to the conclusion that we received some pretty cool gifts over the years and at 23 and 25 we wouldn’t be mad if the gift we were opening turned out to be a RC car instead of some practical-grown-up-something.
As we brought up past presents one by one, laughed and shared memories I began to notice a trend among the gifts we received over the years. A trend of pursuing new hobbies. A trend that sparked imagination. A trend that inspired creativity.
You see, every year, every gift, and every ounce of excitement of opening a gift either encouraged us to pursue new hobbies or improve current ones (guitars, drawing books, batons), sparked our imagination (telescopes, model engines, books)…and/or inspired creativity (art supplies, Legos, magic sets).
My guess is, most other millennials experienced receiving gifts along the same lines as well….at the very minimum, you were at least excited to try out the new game or learn something new!
So what has changed now that we are adults? The excitement? Negative. I was pretty excited about my new pot and pan set this past weekend. Not receiving gifts that are fun? Negative. I’ll have fun cooking with my new pot and pan set. So what is it?!??!
Well for some odd reason, adulthood does this funny thing to you, suddenly you become so focused on your job, relationships, goals, etc., that you forget to set aside time to try out a new hobby, pursue a dream and/or let your imagination run wild.
Therefore, my 23rd birthday was an important reminder to me, to always pursue new hobbies, find what sparks my imagination and constantly seek creativity…not just on my birthday, but the other 364 days of the year too.
There is nothing wrong with having a little fun, branching out, and trying new things even when life seems hectic.
The Unconventional Millennial 