TRENDS come and go and (in the case of fashion, for example) sometimes resurface and become trendy again after time passes. Now because I am an old soul (in other words: lame), I don’t really follow much of the current trends unless someone trusted recommends it to me. This makes me timeless in a sense that my opinion is not formed or based on what is hip and funky-fresh nowadays.
It also makes me a crusty, feeling-old guy because in an age of EDM, pop-country and the latest what-have-you for music, I’m still stubbornly blasting my Pearl Jam and Guns n’ Roses whenever I get the opportunity to. Raise the banner of rock and roll until I go deaf from all the noise.
I’m the last person anyone would accuse of being a “feel-ennial”—someone well-advanced in years who is trying to stay up-to-date with the recent flow of things, even if he/she induces majorly cringe-worthy moments while doing so. But I do feel the need sometimes to catch up with technology just in case the machines suddenly rise in revolt and I don’t know where the off switch is for Alexa (help, Amazon?). I just won’t be caught dead with a TikTok account—I’m not about to dive into the deep end. It’s good to leverage technology to make our lives easier; heck, there are now AIs to help program gym workouts. The line for me is when we decide to chase every bright, shiny new thing in the hopes that it will make us feel relevant to—I don’t know—the world in general.
I guess where it falls off for me is when we try our best to be “uso” just to make people like us. Do you want to reinvent your identity every six months then? If that’s what floats your boat, then do what you must. Me, personally, I choose to filter whose opinions matter to me and the rest can judge me from my charming personality and boyband-good looks (of which I have neither). Forget being “feel-ennial”—are we going to still attempt to be “Generation T” (as in Try-hard) so that we are the cool Titos and Titas of our Generation Z pamangkin? There are many ways to skin a cat and there are many ways to be liked by people of all generations that do not involve scrolling Google Play for the most recent media app.
There’s no need to be popular or hip to be liked. Choose to focus on timeless things like being a nice person, managing finances well, or being able to swallow a Yumburger whole and you’ll find that people will treat you with respect instead of just a one-trick circus act—although I’m not totally sure about that last part.
Video games, however, are a different story. Anybody excited for Diablo IV?