David Brooks writes a piece entitled “The Odyssey Years” describing the phase of life between adolescence and adulthood. He refers to twenty-somethings as a decade of wandering. Being that I graduated from college five months ago and have no discernable plan for the near future, I felt like he was talking about someone like ME.
A decade of wandering doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world. I guess wandering has a negative connotation of being directionless but I see it as having unlimited opportunity. I imagine the next 8, 10, 50 years of my life to be an Odyssey. I can’t see myself settling down in one place for an extended (2+ years) period of time unless something drastic occurs (find an incredible job, crash onto a mysterious island along with 49 other stranger and have to take charge as the only doctor on the flight, etc…) I am too scared of being stationary. I am too afraid of committing myself to something I won’t be able to get out of if I realize I want to do something else. I guess the big thing is that I don’t want to miss out on seeing the world and taking advantage of my freedom. From my perspective, the opportunity cost of doing any one thing is too high because there are so many other incredible experiences and places that I have to uncover.
Unlike many of my peers, I don’t have an overwhelming desire to follow any particular career path. I don’t want to limit myself to anything. I don’t have a career. I don’t have a religion. I don’t have a calling, yet...
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Great post big guy. I agree with you about the odyssey years too. In the past, people got out of college and settled into a job right away because they had to start early if they were going to accomplish everything they wanted to--presumably a stable home, children, and football on Sundays.
But this isn't really the reality anymore. The reality is (especially for men too, it's pretty unfair, but we don't really have biological clocks) that one can easily wander around for 5-10 years out of college and then settle into that lifestyle, if it's what you want.
This is the 21st century. It's easier to have a home because there's more of them. It's easier to travel because mobile phones and the internet simplify things so much. It's a brave new world out there, Joe. You and I are just living in it.
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