Then, Now, Next - Feb. 28

10 years ago - I was taking classes like jazz dance, legislative ag, and Spanish to finish out my senior year in college.
5 years ago - We were still digging out from a blizzard over Valentine's Day. We enjoyed a few snow days.
Today - Many things bouncing around in my head!
Tomorrow - I will enjoy watching Jeremiah at swim lessons!
Next year - I want to be planning a vacation to a location we haven't yet explored.

Generational movement

I've started reading a new book which addresses the "life confusion" that today's woman encounters in the quest for the "happy life". I've just started reading but am curious to learn more about the perspective the mother and daughter writing team present. I am already finding myself relating to some of the case studies provided.

One concept they present is that today's woman has endless opportunities, creating too many choices to make. Therefore, there is a quest for the next best thing. Furthermore, having so many opportunities is a relatively new (less than 60 years) concept. There isn't much experience in this area.

In one narrative they explained that a mother of a 30 something had a hard time understanding this quest for the happy life. This brought back a memory of a conversation I had with my mom about a year ago. (I may or may not have blogged about it then.) She shared how her generation watched their mothers have to do what their husbands directed. There were strict roles, etc. Therefore, her generation felt that they had achieved something when they had the opportunity to do something they individually sought. Interesting, she noted that my generation is taking that one step farther engaging in those endless opportunities AND needed to be happy doing it.

Yep, I need to be happy. I just have to figure out what that means.