"Working Ain't No 9-5:" The Simple Song Lyric That Describes Life As A Millennial
We are currently living in the age of social media where likes equal revenue and a college degree can't buy you an entry level job (without at least 3 years of experience). As a millennial college graduate that is still struggling to find a way, and writing this in the wee hours of the morning (even though I should be preparing for work tomorrow), there are 3 basic lessons I've learned as simple as this Chloe x Halle lyric :"Working Ain't No 9-5"
1. "Dreams Can Come True, You Are The Master of Your Universe"
As a child, all parents or teachers tell you that you can do anything you put your mind to and as time progresses you realize that this feat is much harder than combining the simple sentence used to describe it. But, as a millennial I've come to the realization that a dream is only a series of ideas created based on a collection of philosophies, activities, and goals one chooses to embody based solely on desires. As cliche as it sounds, you really are the master of your own universe, and anything worth having is worth working for. Work toward your goals, for no one's happiness but your own. Don't base dreams on the looks, works, or happenings of others, your universe is ALL YOUR OWN. It's a true, known, fact (yes, I know these all mean the same, but I needed some verbal emphasis!), there is ALWAYS someone that will have more of something than you and the actual act of being seen as the best is very subjective. There's only one you, do what that YOU wants to do.
2. Social Media is Not Reality
The influencers, celebrities, and peers that you are following are regular, degular people from regular schmegular places. We all breathe air, bleed blood, and have bowel movements in our daily lives (unless your intestines and diet produce irregularity, but you get my point). We've become so accustomed to viewing visual lives that we often forget that NO ONE has a camera on every waking moment. Sorry to tell you, but you will have set backs, experience inequality, and feel as if no one understands what you are going through. Even the bodacious bodies that receive hundreds of thousands of likes often succumb to the mindset that their bodies are the key to success and happiness when in reality its the thoughts within their minds. For example, the act of becoming an Instagram superstar is really building a business beginning with the conception of promoting content desired by viewers to maintaining the consistency needed to continuously captivate minds. Remember that social media is a man made reality, where you create what you want others to see. Stop worrying about the "reality" seen from others, who did or didn't like your pictures and create a happiness within YOUR actual reality.
3. A Degree Isn't A Career
Over the last 10 months of being a college graduate working and career searching I've had to come to this reality for myself. I must say though, college is the place where you gain a vast amount of knowledge about maneuvering through life, more so than about the curriculum itself. But the one thing that no one tells you, is that the degree you receive is not the ticket to financial stability, happiness or success that our parents told us it was. I've interviewed for countless jobs only to be told I needed more work experience. I'm like more experience? I've spent the last three years of my life immersed in every aspect of this industry! As the genius generation we are held to unrealistic standards. I worked two jobs, interned, volunteered, took twenty one credits per semester while commuting four hours a day. (I know ya'll know the struggle!) There is NO job that is putting that much strain on my body. But for companies that simply is not enough. Through this I've learned a career is made by fulfilling one's goals and desires by any means necessary.
All this to say that "working" is not simply going into a 9-5 job everyday. "Working" is the act of creating and reaching happiness within oneself. "Working" is fulfilling one's dream by creating a true reality. "Working" is mastering the universe that has been designed for us to fail. "Working" is is the act of failing but successfully gaining the knowledge within failure. "Working" is developing something that has never been done before.
"WORKING" AIN'T NO 9-5!
