We've Got to Do Better

It's early, sitting out here on my newly screened deck, sipping coffee on what promises to be a warm, summer day.  I'm 50 now, and in a matter of weeks both my sons will be off to college, leaving us with our first taste of the empty nest.  It is an exciting time, and certainly promises to be a new experience.  And of course, being who I am, I find myself assessing the job we've done as parents, hoping and praying that we have done enough to shape and mold our children in a manner that prepares them for this crazy, mixed up world.  I think we've done okay, but there are many unknowns out there.  I will probably worry, but I know I will definitely pray for them daily.

Recently, I was forwarded an article on Vox about the "phenomenon" of what the writer calls "influencer burnout".  I'll quote only part of it (but do read the whole thing):

What’s happening to influencers is a microcosm of what’s happening to everyone.  … [K]ids who write increasingly about their anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, kids who appear in his office “sad in a way they cannot explain, desperate for something they don’t know how to have."

Several of them … dropped out to move to LA to chase the influencer dream for themselves, hoping to become famous in the same way all the other kids got famous: By getting their face to appear on millions of other people’s screens. Left unsaid is what happens when they do win the TikTok lottery, and how the unexplainable sadness doesn’t really go away. 

The article goes on to talk about the need to establish mechanisms that will provide such "influencers" counseling, care, and community.  Let me say this so that I am perfectly clear:  I do not, nor will I ever, condemn these lost souls.  Because if nothing else, they are indeed lost.  As Solomon wrote:  "I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14).  It's Pinocchio on Pleasure Island; it's Percy Jackson in the casino; it's District 1 in PamEm.  An "influencer's" pursuit of vanity, of perceived relevance, can only empty the soul in the long run.  Young people should not arrive at such a place of burnout or despair so soon in their young lives, so dependent on the perceived acceptance and adulation of others.  They need more than help, they need rescue. 

Is this what a "lost generation" looks like?  At the great risk of sounding judgmental, I must seriously ask, what could their home life have been like - home being whatever environment these kids grow up in - that such emptiness results in this rabid pursuit of the white rabbit of "online relevance"?  Yes, we all have at some level gone through an identity crisis of sorts during our adolescence - some more than others willing to do almost anything to fit in.  But this "influencer" phenomenon just takes it to a whole other level of neurosis.  And the depravity of a whole industry designed around exploiting insecurity.

And powerlessly, helplessly, I sit here and drink my coffee, wondering what can possibly be done to redeem this moment in time, this season so seemingly devoid of wisdom.  I pray, because it burdens me.  Again, I will not condemn these lost souls.  But as a dad, for my generation, a measure of conviction is in order - by looking in the mirror, by looking around with clear eyes - and recognizing that some way, some how, we've got to do better.