Generational Gaps Do Not Have To Be Relational Gaps

I am floored by an article I have just read and it pulled at my heart strings so much. The best part of it is that this proves my article to be completely true without me having to much more than introduce this amazing writer.

Jamie Jackson wrote a beautiful piece on his view point of a small app that we know as Tik Tok.

In this article he addresses observations of people he has watched rise to fame or fall exponentially for an app that gives kids hours of entertainment through 15 second videos.

He is a grown man, lived life, experienced his way through technological phases, and more importantly has experienced the differences in generations.

As a young girl of 19 I am still learning what it is like to live as an 'adult' in the world. Not that I would consider myself as such. Quite frankly we are still young and new for all who are in this age group.

We have yet to learn the harshness of reality.

Sure, I have experienced some things in my life that made me grow up more than I needed to. It gave me a harder outlook and a more 'realistic' viewpoint for a while.

And then I found a life on social media. I was fascinated by the stories that could be told, the impact creators had, and the community of an audience that related on another level.

Felt heard.

I knew what it was like to shout into a void and get no answer back. I was able to find a voice and hope and so wanted to share that with the platforms I had come across.

I created a platform that wanted to build one message: every story deserves to be told and every story has a hope.

I picked up a camera and ran with that one message behind me.

Little did I know how that one channel would open up the floodgates for so much more.

I had always been the odd child in a room who was able to connect with those younger and older than her over those in her actual age group. Yet, I am just as much a part of my age group as any other.

I was always more observant and soft-spoken, though that would come as a shock to many who know me now. I have grown more confident and expressive.

The more I learn on life the more I see that age is truthfully 'just a number'.

Throughout all the possibilities of life experiences you can be anywhere on the spectrum at any time. It does not mean that you are behind or ahead. Those terms more and more are irrelevant.

Especially now.

We are living in an age where we all have to learn new tricks to continue on. Things like technology and online businesses are used now more than ever and because our attention has been brought to that forefront, there is now a new understanding between the generations where before there might have been a rift.

Let me give you a personal example.

Not many in my family were overly impressed that I spent my time writing the day away. Definitely not overly enthused when they heard that I was also spending my extra hours on YouTube.

There was now a natural divide that I could just not seem to cross with them, even to this day. That did not stop me from trying to share what it meant.

Unlike some immediate rise to fame stories that I have seen where all the attention was giving to the YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok profiles, I had a back up in place.

I firmly believe that all that any creator, influencer, or celebrity had to do more than what they showed in an interview, in a video, or in a picture.

Some think it is easier than it truly is. The amount of effort, reshoots, attention to details, the business behind the product, endorsements, sponsors, knowing who you can trust and who you cannot is difficult.

But they do not show that nor do they know how to adequately express that. Even so, I saw how there was more to the story and knew enough to have a back up plan in place.

Not to mention my parents would not allow anything past that. To this day I think my mom for sitting down to talk with me.

I knew that out of millions who tried to rise to fame, very few succeeded. The lack of immediate success would be a huge blow to some and that is not what I needed.

I had learned enough to know that whatever career in the social media realm, in the content creator realm, and in the writing realm would come slowly.

I was okay with that knowledge because in the long run the investment would be worth it.

The knee jerk reaction to choices all for the sake of financial gain will get you nowhere in life quickly.

I was not in it for the money, though some may have seen the opposite. I scrapped and fought against all that was thrown my way in terms of my life choices.

"You are one in thousands if not millions of writers, what makes you think that you have what it takes?"

"You have to be realistic with what you choose to do with your life."

"You have got to be smarter."

"You need to focus on a real job over a hobby."

That is not to say it did not hurt. I saw where people were coming from and that almost hurt more.

I did know that you have to have goals, plans, and backups to make sure that you are smart with each move you make. However, I was also born with the mindset that said I did not want to be stuck in a job that I did not care for.

To be a risk taker.

So I hustled.

I found a job, I got my college classes signed up for, and I wrote until I could not think of another word to type and filmed videos til my voice was hoarse.

I am by no means making a ton of money, but I am doing what I am passionate about and that is enough for me.

I cannot think of how living only for money without putting in the work satisfies people (if it actually satisfies). You definitely can see a few who have been on the food and bad end of fame and it makes you wonder how more people still aspire to be in it.

It can be overwhelming at the best of times.

Yet, I got sucked in like everyone else did. Tik Tok was a whole new venture.

I came across Tik Tok right before the start of the pandemic. Still I was not entirely convinced to be a part of the trend of teens that just joined for the heck of it.

I was too busy researching how to better myself on the platforms that I was on and make a living for myself while in my free time enjoying the pleasures of what it was like to be like these kids who seemed to have gained millions overnight.

I knew I would have to work smarter, harder, and never take a day off if I were to get to where I wanted to in life because I put myself in that position.

I was raised to believe that nothing in life is handed to you. Still believe that to this day.

Yet, I saw the world through a different lens as there was story after story of what people were doing for each other throughout the pandemic on that app. I got hooked.

The more I saw a nation come together the more I was affirmed in my decision to be on this app and help keep that message moving. Just as quickly as I saw the movement, it ended.

I did not see it happen and was sad that we could all forget the widespread panic so quickly.

I mean we are still living in a world where we cannot see the whole of someone's face unless it is behind a screen, where we are not allowed to touch our friends as a means of physical support, where we are not allowed to gather together.

How does that work?

We generations of people who have bridged a gap because we were shocked into the reality of death. No one can conquer it and it comes for anyone. We were reminded of that as death after death of good people came on the news.

And those are just the celebrities.

Let us not forget the countless deaths of grandparents, parents, friends, siblings, acquaintances, lovers, and any other relation you can think of. They are not just numbers flashing on a screen to prove the impact of a pandemic.

They were real people who had lives that we did not even know about. That lived, laughed, loved, struggled, hoped, dreamed, were misunderstood just as you and I.

May we never forget the real impact of what this virus has taught us: that there is more to life than dancing on an app, speaking to a camera, finding the best angle, and doing whatever you want to because you are bored.

Rather live life to its fullest. Find ways to be better, improve on what you know, learn something new, change up the system of what you are doing.

DON'T BE STAGNANT AND DON'T SETTLE!

You are so much more than that.

Vocal was my shining light as I tumbled into heartbreak for our next generation, for our world, for a future that never had a destination and changes by the day.

I was able to find a voice and so many others could and have said the same.

I have found an encouragement in writers like Jamie Jackson among many others in seeing that not only are we sharing our voices but we are listening. We are being the change we wish to see.

Of course, it starts with one but it takes many to make a movement.

Let's connect through generations of people. Learn from those who remember a different time. Listen. Show them respect.

You might just have them give you that in turn.

Not everything in life is easy. It takes effort and hard work. Everything. Those that do not learn that lesson now may do so the hard way.

It is a hard inevitability that we come to terms with day in and day out.

We are stronger individuals when we come together as a family, community, and nation.

So let us make strides to understand each other, work together, and be a time in history that we can look back on with pride.