The Odyssey Years

Here is a link to an article that I find very interesting.

This is from a recent opinion column in The New York Times by David Brooks called "The Odyssey Years." According to Times, this article can be summed up as follows: "The decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood is a sensible response to modern conditions."

I'm not sure how I feel about this phase of life as the simple result of "modern conditions," nor will I simply say that I am a product of my generation, but I do think that many young people my age can relate to Brooks' description of life for the twenty-something right now. I definitely do. Although I'm probably more tied to tradition than some who are my age, I still can relate to the feeling of having to find my way in an uncertain world. For a young person who has grown out of immense opportunities and who faces a world full of more opportunity and uncertainty than she anticipated, "odyssey" is a good description.

Life is different for us than it was for our parents at our age, but we still ultimately want the same things--love, health, happiness, and a better world. I guess the road to getting those things will always be different in different periods of history, but I guess that's why I'm so grateful for my faith in the gospel; it gives me stability in a changing society. Thankfully, the essence of life is constant, and if we remember that, I don't think we need to simply be defined by our generation.