Goodbye 2010s, we’ll miss you

I’ve always been a relatively sentimental and nostalgic person, especially when it comes to the year ending. I think we all have a sense of not having done enough, or having wasted a whole year. And with the ending of the decade coming up, I’m feeling that more than ever.

The thought of entering a whole new set of ten years that starts with the number two is kind of freaking me out.

But also the idea of going into a new decade feels somehow really important and ground breaking, even though I know it isn’t. It’s just a
new year, no different than this year, the year before, or the eight before that. But it just feels different. I’ve noticed that I’m not alone in this feeling.

Nostalgia has been trending recently on social media; old childhood TV show compilations have been circulating social media along with other decade ending related content. Clips of “Good Luck Charlie,” “Hannah Montana,” and “Victorious,” all spliced together over sad music, have been popping up more and more. People are craving a feeling of nostalgia, and the feeling is seemingly universal among people my age.

People are grappling for a taste of the 2010s before they’re over, and that makes a lot of sense. We all grew up for the most part in the past decade; prior to that, we were too young to really understand much or do anything. Life was easy, but not too memorable.

In contrast, the past 10 years have been some of the most formative for many of us. Leaving behind middle school, starting high school, kind of becoming an adult. Lots of big stuff. The idea of leaving that all behind is hard.

But what I think is fueling this distaste for the 20s so much is that with the end of the decade comes the end of certainty. It’s only now that we have to seriously consider the future; we’re being forced to make really big decisions about the next steps in our life rather than relying on our parents to do it for us.

We no longer have someone making doctors’ appointments for us, or handling all the finances, or knowing the different settings on the washing machine. We’re kind of on our own, and I don’t know about you, but I have no idea how to make a doctor’s appointment. And then there’s the uncertainty of getting a job, and where you’ll live, and everything else that life throws at you. It’s a lot.

Obviously, it’s not the ending of the decade that triggers this feeling, but these major changes, coupled with the nostalgia and attachment we have to time, seems to magnify the situation. The comfort of everything being set up for us is falling away, and what we’re left with is a lot of uncertainty.

All things considered, it’s only natural that we seem to want to reject the new decade and everything that comes with it. Reminiscing about our favorite childhood memories and watching “Victorious” on a loop is so much more comfortable than accepting the future. It’s easier. It’s certain.

But I think that’s part of growing up. You have to be uncomfortable to find comfort, and you have to be uncertain to find certainty.

Being sad about the end of the decade is fine, normal, and I’m definitely feeling it big time. But it’s just the end of a year. The 20s will be (hopefully) a great decade, same with every decade after that. This just seems to be hitting a little different because we’re growing up.

So, goodbye 2010s.