I think that we can all agree that there is a ritualistic experience that all young adults, from all walks of life, throughout all phases of history have had to confront; and that is navigating the inevitable and wide-ranging issues in which you must confront to build the foundation for a successful future, not only for your own personal future, success, and happiness, — but for the future world that you want to exist in and leave behind. “What does my future look like? What do I Want my future to look like? What do I need to do to legitimize that future?” That mindset is simply the nature of your twenties, and I understand and respect that process. However sometimes I find it really overwhelming and almost hopelessly defeating to soak in all of the specific issues that our particular generation is facing right now. I consider myself a firm believer in the ideology that not taking full advantage of ‘The Age of Information’ that we are lucky enough to exist in is the highest form of ignorance. Being misinformed is one thing, but being uninformed, or worse, unconcerned is an entirely different thing. I try my best to stay updated and well-informed in this seemingly never-ending saga of our current environment. I not only seek out the apprising of sources whom I personally believe to be credible and informative, but also those who I either don’t believe, agree with, or those who challenge my views and opinions. I used to comfort myself by believing that throughout history many generations must have felt this same sense of dread and doom for their future, but something that I find shocking is the growing sentiment of urgency and actual, literal, fear of those who are well respected, informed, and experienced. I’m talking politicians, journalists, historians, etc. I understand that it is incredibly easy to fall into the frenzy of the hyperbolic, embellished, propagandist rhetoric that is thrown around by both ‘sides’ on literally every ‘news’ source and every platform that we have access to. Not only do I somewhat narcissistically believe that I am intelligent and informed enough to sift through that to at least some degree, but I also feel that the division which created some of these situations, and intensity of all of those differing beliefs that perpetuate, ingest, and recirculate those ideas are exactly what I am afraid of. Once you do sift through it, the general consensus is that we are living in truly unprecedented, truly dangerous, truly uncertain times. I find it so exhausting to try and comprehend that. Where do you find the motivation to begin building YOUR future when THE future is so uncertain? I ask myself “What does your future look like?” Yet if I try to answer that right now I’m taken aback by the dystopian answer it seems to be while considering the facts. Does my future include war? Does my future include massive civil-unrest? Does my future include environmental disasters I can’t even comprehend? Political mishandlings of epic proportions? To be quite frank, I don’t know what my future looks like, and it seems to be out of my control. On of those most ‘trivial’ issues, but one that effects me pretty intensely is health care. I haven’t seen a doctor since I was a Junior in High School. I’ve worn the same pair of contacts for over a year. How am I supposed to believe in a healthy future when I don’t even have the proper access to being healthy? A lot of people (myself included) seem to find hope in the upcoming elections and stories like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez... but what reaction would a Trump loss ignite? What about a Trump victory? What is the 2020 campaign cycle going to look like? What is the conclusion of all this devision and tension going to be? I find it hard to believe that it’s just going to melt away or sort itself out. I find it hard to believe that even through activism and action we could correct the issues facing us right now when we can’t even seem to agree on what the issues are. I don’t know what my future looks like, and that’s becoming more and more frightening and infuriating. I originally decided not to post this as a status, because I know the chaos that could ensue... but I guess that concept is the issue that I’m talking about. I guess I just want to gauge where everyone else is at, and as I’m investigating the meaning of this Trump-Putin summit I just have this intense desire for some dialogue on all of these things that I feel like we’re all thinking and feeling. So let’s see how it goes... How are you guys feeling? What are your plans? Are you participating in any sort of activism? Which potential representatives give you hope? Fear? What sources do you ingest? What the hell is going on? Do you know? Does anybody? What does our future look like? What do we want our future to look like? What do we need to do to legitimize that future?