There’s a specific quality to a late August sunset that always gives me pause: as if August and reflection coexist.
The inevitable shorter days ahead inspires a messy emotional recipe filled with awe and melancholy. It was around this time last year I met Julia – a true force of nature and a rising public relations star working in New York City. Public Relations, an industry that has defined me for decades, created an automatic bond between us. She was 24 years old. I was nearing 60.
A Gen Z creative luminary, Julia was a guest this summer weekend with Emily, another rockstar cohort from my daughter’s orbit.
They arrived – a tornadic force – via the Hamptons Jitney bus.
There we were: three 20-something hotshots – two ginger-haired and one brunette – and me, well, color-treated. It was during dusk that these forever-college-bonded, estrogen-pumping young women walked in and lit up my weekend. Any sadness about the shorter days ahead quickly dissipated.
A sunset tiki boat ride was the highlight of the weekend. But it was the unplanned, short bursts of connection and fulfilling interactions that surprised and inspired me as we shared time. Any and all generational differences faded away. I learned a lot too. They were an amazing sounding-board for my business ideas. I work with clients in industries that are always looking for new ways to capture the attention of this demographic. These three were my tequila-infused focus group.
I remember thinking, at the end of the day, we are all just women. Any differences were simply advances made over time that are simultaneously amazing and perilous – such as the incessant incoming information that impacts their worlds each and every second of the day. Of course, many other things are for the better: healthier food choices and career opportunities made possible by years of shattered ceilings. Though in many ways, things today are more complex than ever as we all navigate the dystopia of the world, I thought to myself as I grabbed a Diet Coke while they sipped on their prebiotic sodas.
I found myself reflecting on the 48-hours they were in my orbit. Observations worth sharing after this rosé-lubricated, fun and eye-opening weekend: three women on the verge of their lives and me, wiser, wrinklier and a bit more tired. They stare at their screens while I sift through magazines and newspapers; they have apps for restaurant recommendations, I have names on post-its scattered on my desk; they are bombarded by GLP-1 ads, we had Weight Watchers’ commercials and, for some, good ol’ fashion discipline; they have a world more divided by politics and instability with everything on constant display, we had more secrets, sacrifices, sojourns and real-life surprises.
But, at the end of the day, my daughter and I really are the same, just like my mom and I and her mom before her. We were simply just coming of age in worlds with different noises swirling around. Feminist and activist Gloria Steinem famously said, “We need to remember across generations that there is as much to learn as there is to teach.” As women, we share a generational-defying, unifying thread.
And with Julia, the juxtaposition of our client servicing, PR-industry reality in a changing, AI-driven industry versus my experience at her age, was in the forefront of my brain – from our daily outfits to where and how we do our jobs.
For me, it was experience before #MeToo and daily banter at the water cooler. We wore appalling, below-the-knee suits, often with questionable jackets and shoulder pads. Sneakers got us from point A to point B and we stashed a second pair of acceptable office shoes in a desk drawer. Now, hybrid options mean Gen Z can work barefoot a few days a week and actually walk their dogs, all the while Zoom-ing their way to success. There is the good and the bad regardless of the decade. Today, I miss some of the proverbial water cooler chatter and, well, they are missing out too as this in real life time is, well, important.
Yes, so much has changed over the years yet so much is the same: career, kids, cost of living? Does it matter in the end?
Yes. It does.
At the end of the day, we are all navigating this challenging, overwhelming and beautiful life full of choices to be made, whether at the office or on Instagram. Distant memories of my daughter’s stages and ages buzz around my brain. The world has changed and every generation has its challenges. I find comfort in knowing we’re bonded throughout the generations.
As my sister and I always say, with irony, “we all end up emptying the dishwasher.” It rings true for every generation. Life is full of love and laughter, along with work, hard conversations, and never-ending to-do lists. Each generation has its own set of tools to deal with it. So to my weekend guests, remember to live in the moment, take a break from scrolling and look at the sunsets. You can even thank Gen X for wearing the ugly office clothes so you don’t have to. In return, I can thank you for allowing me to go barefoot, empty the dishwasher and listen to a podcast while working from home today.