Millennials: Pursuing Money or Passion
Howe and Strauss define the Millennial as individuals born between 1982 and 2004. Another researcher used the years 1981 and 1996 (ages 22-37 in 2018).
I usually find them annoying because they are smarter, younger and better looking than me. My son Nick is one of these techno creatures, he is 25. Lately I have put have put aside my annoyance related to this group and have come to appreciate their passion for risk taking.
They seem to be adept at getting an idea from some part of the galaxy and often pursue it. vigorously. Despite the view by many people that millennials are all overly money conscious, many chase their dreams without large concerns for financial gains. Let me give some examples.
A local family restaurant, that I frequent, was run successfully by two middle-aged adults. Recently, it was taken over by four drone-loving kids. So far so good. The place basically is the same but with some minor changes. There is a new seating area to the right of the entrance that serves a variety of beverages and the servers all have little computers so you they can type your order and you can pay right on the spot with a credit card. Reaching for my cash seems so antiquated.
I interviewed a fledgling movie maker last month with who is pursuing his dreams. Nick Rumaczyk said, “My first movie Terrestrial (see the trailer here: https://vimeo. com/170717112), made for just a few bucks less nothing, earned me a couple awards and played various festival around the world, but didn’t exactly have distributors banging down my door.” His second film is about a serial killer.
Millennials, despite being short on capital, are also creative in raising funds as opposed to asking parents for dough like we used to do constantly. Nick uses the site, www.seedandspark.com/fund/ broker2. He called it a “crowdfounding page.” Other artists may use the well-known go fund me site.
Below is an example of the excitement that results when a young person or any person for that matter, pursues their artistic dream. It is the photographic work of Jon Verney.
“I had a photograph I had taken of my late grandmother’s hands opening a letter. I placed it in the bleach and watched it fade away, then I took it to a hot spring south of Siena, Italy– the first hot spring I had ever been to. Immediately after laying the image in the mineral-rich water it began to change. The paper turned orange, then crimson, and then the image completely reappeared in a warm, bronze sienna. Standing there with all this hot water gushing upwards from deep within the earth and watching this obliterated image become reborn by the landscape was a truly extraordinary, almost baptismal experience. The fact that one of my photos enters a pool one way and comes out changed… I find that quite powerful.” I don’t know if this unique photographic technique provides a steady income for Jon but the enthusiasm and passion for the work is obvious.
When I was thirty-one, I quit my secure good paying state job at Kings Park Psychiatric center on Long Island, and rented a floor of an office building in Mineola, the county seat. My boss said I was nuts and would regret leaving all the state medical benefits.
I opened up a for profit counseling center. I had decent clinical skills and hired other competent therapists. It was a good concept at the time, but I really had no business experience. I was the owner and director of the business but at one point took a night job as a waiter in a comedy club to try and keep my business afloat. You know the rest of the story. I went broke and was in debt but I learned one valuable lesson. I followed my passion and didn’t die.