Blessed by Brett Dennen

As put forth by one of my wise friend’s rock climbing talks, “So I encourage you, when you are standing at the edge of the mountain . . . jump off it!”

He is a skilled and avid rock climber with a philosophy continuing to grow deep within.  To us close friends of his, it appeared as though everything just happened to work out for him.  Fellowship here, great job there, and then he took off to South America to climb mountains and came back to start his own business?!  What?!

He had been asked to give a talk at R.E.I. about the year he “jumped off the mountain” – the year he left a stable, salary-paying job to embrace a Gap Year of some sort.  We were all about to bail on him, thinking, “He’s just going to share some clips about his trip – we can hear that over a night at Cabo Cantina!”  But there was a deep sense of a new phase beginning – as if we were all transitioning at the same time.  We paid attention to this lurking feeling and decided to go.  From our partying days of 2-4-1 happy hours to now being able to enjoy a craft beer and spit ideas back and forth, we knew this was only the beginning.

His talk included insight into how to “jump off the mountain” with everything you do.  And what is it that most of us single, goal-oriented people do?  We work.  And we don’t just work like our parents did to provide and create stability for a family.  We work, like we are dying tomorrow – like we need to leave a legacy behind just for ourselves!  Because remember, we are the single ones out of the bunch.

In that moment, of watching one of our partners in crime give this short, sweet, yet powerful talk, I saw the true colors of our generation.  His words were embedded into my subconscious.  I couldn’t escape it.  It would only be time before I started “jumping off the mountain” as well.  As I was already on this path of launching from one phase to the next, I would see his words coming into fruition in my own life, making me, yet, another product of this generation.

This friend, the rock climber, ended up following his inner philosophy and left the comfort of his salary-paying job to start a business with another one of our friends.  From his story, to countless others’ who are leaving behind the salary to have the best of both worlds, this generation is becoming fully alive – fully defining itself.

I feel like I just connected the dots, where I can see how our generation began to transition.  It seems that we are the result of a driven childhood.  One of endless, extracurricular schedules like year-round sports, student council or ASB, Junior Statesmen of America (JSA), Mock Trial – all the while, attending Princeton Review sessions and passing AP courses to minimize that future college tuition.

The parents of our generation knew where to live, in order to provide a sheltered bubble where we could play hard and study hard – without being put into jail or making any major life-threatening decisions.  Most of us are a result of the burbs, or living just outside the city.  Some, coming from the lax vibe of the Midwest, but still, all raised to attend the best colleges or at least a well-rounded private school that could make up for anything our parents missed.

We got it covered, to say the least.  So, when we graduated with honors or at least flying colors, we entered into the work field confidently.  Succeeding in the work field and witnessing just how “smart” we had become, whether our bosses gave us promotions right away or they sent us to China to give a quick presentation, we were doing everything we were expected to, since the day our parents signed us up for Club Soccer.

But, then, a day came when we began to think for ourselves.  After achieving all that we wanted to achieve and peaking a little early, we asked, Then what?  Should I just keep getting promotions and doing well?  Because, I know, I will.

That confidence began to spark deeper reflection on what we are capable of in this life, in this world, and in this nation.  And the more everyone started eating Kale around us and the music became nothing short of a tangible inspiration to our goals and dreams, spontaneously, gifted creativity began to escape our veins.  We began to think of an alternative version to what our parents wanted for us:

Well, if I can do well at anything, then why not start my own company, start my own establishment, start my own non-profit?

If I can handle loads of pressure from a boss, then why not be my own boss?

If the mission of my company says “this”, then why not create my own mission to serve the needs of this world?

Thus, the plunge of start-ups, inspirational writing, and support for one another began.  And the more I immerse myself into this community of hard working, creatively passionate, driven individuals, the more I meet more members of the crew.  Once we acknowledge that we are one in the same, we begin to vibe on the same playing field.  More importantly, we feel that much more inclined to support one another in all of our endeavors.  From talks at R.E.I. to documentary screenings in a warehouse somewhere in Costa Mesa, we are supporting the true colors of our generation.

We admire how much of ourselves is being given to the new company, the new blog, the new coffee shop.  We admire how we no longer feel like we are “working.”  It’s like we all affirmed that Club Soccer and high G.P.A.’s could only lead to this – to a world where no one is the boss anymore!

We have freed ourselves from the old mantra of “living this life to just work and provide,” where retirement was the Finish Line.  Instead, we are using ALL of our gifts and talents to put the individual first – like living the best of both worlds.  As a result, the family structure is evolving as well.  As individuals seek to “do what they love,” they are able to bond in a more attentive, aware way with their children and companion.

This generation is simply ideal, efficient, and attractive.  We find we gravitate towards those on this same playing field and realize that following our hearts, embracing intuition, and maintaining our committed work ethic since childhood, is what it will take to sustain this lifestyle, in order to make it all naturally come together.

What will become of this new family structure, this new community of creatively, brave individuals?  All I know is, the vibe has never felt better – has never been so grounded.  And since I took the plunge for myself, I only grow more into this generation in a natural way, becoming a wiser, more authentically kind, and intuitive soul.  What more could we want for the next generation?

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“Blessed”

by:  Brett Dennen

I welcome the sun
The clouds and rain
The wind that sweeps the sky clean and lets the sun shine again
This is the most magnificent life has ever been
Here is heaven and earth and the brilliant sky inbetween

Blessed is this life and i’m going to celebrate being alive (x4).

I dwell in the darkness
I let in the light
I sleep in the afternoon and become the noise in the night
I trespass in temptation suffer in sacrifice
But I awake each day with the new sunrise.

Blessed is this life oh, and I’m gonna celebrate being alive (x4)