Generation X: To Be Continued...

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Is it me, or does all the buzz revolve around the Millenials and Gen Z? I realized recently that Gen X often gets left out of many conversations in the news, business magazines, commercials, you name it. And what’s with the “X”? As the youngest of six, it gives me a glimpse of what it must feel like to be that notorious “middle child” who gets overlooked.

We are in fact the middle child of the century, squeezed between the Baby Boomers and the illustrious Millenials. We X'ers know the Greatest Generation well; growing up with them around the dinner table, we heard firsthand the legacies of Grandpa’s war tales and how Grandma fed a family of five on scraps. They didn’t receive the media attention of subsequent generations because pop culture was still in its infancy, but I believe few would debate the impact of their legacy.

It was the Baby Boomers who stole the spotlight before Gen Z. They arrived on the scene just in time to claim many firsts, and it goes without saying that they dominated in size. They owned the news being the first to put birth control to use, employ social activism, and enjoy post-war affluence like our country had never seen. They built corporations and enjoyed the fruits of their labor when the economy was bullish in the 1980s.

Their Gen X siblings, on the other hand? We’re touted for ushering in MTV and the personal computer. Our traits seem to pale in comparison. Perhaps it was one-on-one time spent with our computers and games that made us independent, used to being indoors, and content with being alone. (We were, after all, the notorious “Latchkey Kids.”) Like any siblings, our characteristics are bound to be different. But why, did we earn the unremarkable name “X?”

Apparently, the name was coined by the Canadian author of, “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.” No reference is given for the choice of the title, so it is assumed to have been chosen as a “placeholder.” All of my poking around on the subject confirms it. So that’s it? An author writing about our generation uses X for lack of a better term and it sticks?

Is it fair to say we don’t have our own legacy yet? Reflecting on my own life, it is true that at fifty-five I feel I am only just getting started. I wonder if perhaps this is a trait I share with my Gen X siblings. Perhaps we are the late bloomers?

I am exploring life as newly single and embarking on a second career. I dove into the subject of self-healing recently and embarked on finally writing “that novel.” I’ve learned about manifesting from my daughter and embrace it daily. I’ve shifted from aerobic workouts to weight lifting; this is undoubtedly my happiest and most energetic time, so I’m eager to see what it yields.

It reminds me of the book, The Secret Power of Middle Children by Katrin Schumann and Catherine Salmon, which defends why middle children so often turn out to be the most successful. If their theory is true, it won’t be long before Gen X takes the stage. If my generational brothers and sisters are anything like me, then the best is yet to come!