Me time vs Us time
Sitting and chatting over the masala tea, enjoying the rain and my favorite fritters, I had the best company to spend my evening, my Mom. I called before visiting her, asking her to make my favorite fritters.
“Mom”, I asked casually, “how did you manage your Me time?”
“What’s that?”, she said. “You and your generation will always come up with something funny.”
Fast forward, not wanting to argue with her, I quietly explained the notion of Me time for mothers. She burst into laughter almost questioning my sanity. After a while, she told me the reality of life which, we millennials, sadly do not know. For her, the best time of the day was evening time. Tired of work, she and dad would reach home. Mostly Dad, used to bring us from daycare as Mom worked far from the city. The supper soup or tea with biscuits tossed with the stories of the day made it the best recipe.
Oh yes! When I dropped something, my elder brother would reach out to me. Help me, but also fight with me (mostly I was the culprit but being the younger one, but, was saved and poor brother got all the shouting).
Mom said, I never thought of personal or Me Time. It never crossed my mind as well. Once married, I was so engaged with family life, it eventually became part of me.
Your generation does not know the value of owning. You believe in renting everything, from clothes to house. So much so, you will go the extra mile to earn money from the car you own by renting it.
The instant generation as she calls me, wants everything instantly. She asked me when the last time was, I wrote a letter to her when I was working away. I said, “why would I write a letter when I have phone? You are just a call or text away.”
She said, yeah. Poor you, you have never enjoyed that feeling of opening a letter curious to know what it has. Not that your generation does not work hard, but your priorities are different.
You want family but at the same time, you want something personal.
You want family time, but at the same time your own Me time.
You listen to music all day long, yet, you have never listened to the wind whistling through the trees.
You dance all day long, yet, you have never seen birds dancing on the twigs.
You want to have all amenities, yet, you do not want ownership.
Try baking sometimes, it’s a long process. Much longer than your instant noodles or coffee, yet, it’s the one that will make your kitchen smell like a heaven.
Our world was slow, not as fast as yours, but it had all the time for Us, so, we never wondered for a Me time. Your generation has lost the Us time over the Me time. Unfortunately, both are far from your reach now.
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/H7WdV-dNRZE
