There are many fears that people as a whole can agree upon; for example, sharks, spiders, car accidents or planes. They are fears that are understood and unquestioned: no one's like, “Why are you afraid of sharks?” They just get it. But with us dazzling millennials that I truly love, we are not afraid of cockroaches and rabid dogs. We are scared of something that is actually scary: commitment. It’s like this taunting monster breathing down my neck 24/7. I literally only made one Halloween decoration this year and it was just a sticky note that had “commitment” written on it. Like, that's spooky. Dead body? Yeah, okay. Commitment? I’ll seriously join the track team to run from that bull honkey.
There is unity in our need to be single. That seems like an oxymoron but I’m dead serious. Millennials understand each other in the sense that we don’t crave these hot and heavy serious relationships. We enjoy going to college, working, going out, spending time with friends and somehow we don’t find the time to fit in a lot of serious relationships.
I don’t necessarily think this is the worst thing. I rarely find myself wishing that I was in a relationship or that I had a label or status with somebody. I’m very okay with being single and focusing on my writing and my friends. Its almost like a running joke with millennials -- like, last one to get into a relationship wins. We don’t feel this pressure that previous generations might have felt. Baby boomers felt this crippling pressure to find “the one.” They ran around trying to figure out who they were supposed to be with and lost a lot of time trying to be in this perfect relationship. We don’t go out or go to school in hopes of finding another person; we just want to find ourselves. I think that’s pretty poetic. I can think of a hundred things I’d rather do that try to find a man who wants to be in a relationship with me. My sister and I preach to each other about how much we love being single. I have been able to grow so much being on my own. My relationships with my friends are incredible. The closeness that I have harbored with my friends is something that I don’t know I could have done if I was putting my efforts elsewhere.
I don’t understand people who feel pressure from their family to bring home a boyfriend or a girlfriend. My mom and dad never pushed me to be in a relationship or to focus on dating more than anything else. They ask me about my grades, my writing, my friends, my life -- not if I have landed a boyfriend, yet. I refuse to feel guilty for enjoying my life by myself. I have me! It’s incredible. I love me enough for two people. So go on, run free my millennial children. Run the same way we run from commitment.
