The Lost Generation.

We update, and tweet, and wall post, and snapchat, and tinder, and bumble, and Instagram.

We are the generation lost in the digital age.

We have so many ways to connect to one another, that we stopped connecting with one another.

We would rather tweet at a friend across a room, then go aver to show them the funny dog video we just found.

We swipe right and left instead of forcing ourselves to get dressed up and challenge ourselves to go meet a cool new person.

We are generation that has too much, that we miss out on all the fundamental things that make life great.

We are the generation that no longer has adorable meet cutes that we can later tell our children about. Instead we get to say "I swiped right on your dad, and he told me some terrible pick up line, and we awkwardly met up at a coffee shop, and proceeded to "hang out" until we realized we had been together for 8 months and seemed it was time to finally call it dating, and then we had you"

To me, that sounds like a pretty terrible existence. I have done the whole online dating, and I have to say not all of my interactions have been bad. I have actually met some really cool people from online dating and using apps like Tinder, but I have to say that I have had way more terrible encounters talking to people online than good.

One of the biggest things that is very interesting about the way that this whole thing is set up, is that there is no more trying. There is no more courting a women to make her your own. Boys know that if this girl won't put out, if he keeps swiping, theres a good chance that another girl will. Which totally sucks, because guys deserve to be courted too. Women and men should equally want to impress each other. They should care what they look like, and how they are perceived by the other person. They should try to commit to one person and date them to see if this human is better for them than other humans. The effort should be put into place by both parties. Seriously, try. The connections that you make when you actually give a shit, I promise are way better than the ones where you give minimal effort. Just be honest. If you like someone, take a chance, tell them. And if you get rejected, good. We could all stand to be a little more humble. Take it as learning experience and instead of getting angry and saying something rude, actually learn from it.

Another thing about this lost generation, is that they have lost their ability to work for things. I say this with a grain of salt of course, because there are of course people who still know what hard work is, and do not believe that they are entitled to anything and everything that they want. But the people that believe that they are incapable of losing, are incredibly irritating. Talk about a sore loser. Except in this generation, we have been taught that that we cannot lose. Not a joke. As a kid I was never given a participation trophy, I got a pat on the shoulder that said "hey, you did good, we didn't win this one, but theres always next time, so keep trying." It instilled a sense of self that even though you don't get something right away, and you weren't the best, it meant that you shouldn't give up. BUT now that you can't ever "lose" you always believe that you're a winner. News Flash- you are not, and thats pretty cool. Not being a winner, means you still have something to work towards, and when you win, you get to say you put in a lot of hard work to get there, and that you will always keep striving to be better. Talk about a gracious acceptance speech.

So as you grow up in this lost generation please remember that you don't HAVE to be a loser you GET to be a loser. Everyone loses at something and that's something that connects all of us. Cheesy I know, but I promise I'm right, and that feeling, is pretty freeing.

Lastly, this lost generation never gets to go through an awkward phase. And for us 90's kids that basically grew up in an awkward phase, this one is particularly hard for us to swallow. I was a lover of blue eyeshadow, didn't know what eyeliner was and couldn't even imagine contouring my face. Now a days kids in middle school, look better than I did in high school. Super boost to the self esteem. But, to be honest, part of me feels bad for them. They never got to grow up being totally enamored by crappy makeup and crimping their hair. I never worried about my pictures getting a certain amount of likes and certainly had no idea what likes even were. I got to be awkward in all my glory, and I really think that helped me grow up to be a individual. I wasn't pressured by society to look a certain way, I was just a kid. I wish that kids got to live that way now. I wish that people my age got to live that way now. I wish that we lived in a world where everyone was able to just be themselves. male and female, and didn't worry about the latest makeup trends or the new fad diet. Its funny how the lost generation, contains people from all different generations now. Its like a wildfire that just keeps spreading. Hopefully not everyone and everything goes up in flames.

It would be great to see that blue eyeshadow again, and 12 year olds without winged eye liner (which by the way, looks better than I have ever done it) and boys bringing flowers, and girls surprisingly boys with cooking their favorite dinner, instead of Netflix and chill.

If you're still reading...wow you are a champ. I hope that you can either relate to what I am talking about and that next time you think about not going up to that guy at the bar, or not talking to that girl, you remember that it is okay to not get the win. (but if you do, hey great) and you can say I have survived from worse than this, I used to crimp my hair on purpose. and that you have friends who embrace who you are on all levels even when that sheer moment of courage didn't totally pay off.