Published on 12, July, 2020
The good old days, eh?
Older generations, say from mid 30's onwards, speak of how things were better in the good old days.
I believe that I have been blessed with a good life, with many great experiences. Oh course there were experiences that were not so great.
The thing is, when I look back on those experiences, the times, the places, the things I did - I should be grateful.Yes, I am grateful, but I am also filled with what can be an overwhelming sadness.Sadness that those days are long gone, the World has changed, I've gotten older (53), my health has declined.
Sure, you don't have to be autistic to have those mournful thoughts for what once was, but does being autistic make it that much harder?
Apart from the end-lesss lock downs ( unless you were a Palestinian) all things you list here were around since the forever. the one new thing new is the crowding. there are SO many more people now than before. It's getting pretty crowded. That's the one thing that I notice and that when disaster strikes it affects that many more people. in the 50s we had the red scare, reefer madness, polio, scant vaccines, AS peeps in institutions for the insane on shock therapy, institutionalized marital rape, forced marriage etc. etc. These days we just have a new set of things to focus all that primal litany you mentioned on but it's part of the human, no matter how they are wired, psyche.
i was born 1990. i think we perhaps think too much, when i was a kid i had depressive thoughts about the potential of aging and losing everyone to age, losing my parents.... i havent lost them even yet but i remember i was always sad and depressive thinking on this stuff and easily set off. time and progression is sadness and loss.but as for the world, it was always bad. it always had bad events going on.... just you went from a young age not paying attention to it, to a older age being aware of it, to the modern age where your not only aware of it but constantly bombarded and reminded of it. its best to turn all media off entirely and focus on your life instead. all media is toxic.the world didnt progressively get bad after 9/11 that is just the first bad event most of our age will remember. everything before that was terrible, from ira troubles and bombings, to collapses of nations, to gulf wars, korean wars, falkland wars, many many many wars.... the world was always bad we just wasnt constantly bombarded by the media with it all the time and we was young enough to ignore it.
The problem was our expectations, which were taken advantage of.
We were promised the Sun, Moon and Stars. In the end we became Bums with Degrees.
I was born in 1997 so can't relate to the olden days like a lot of people can though having said that I do have my own olden days, i.e when my parents were alive and I was a child and a lot happier and carefree. I miss those days. Life felt kind, and at the time I felt like nothing would ever change. I miss that life and that version of me. They were the best of times.
Sorry I cannot relate. I was born in 21st century so all I have ever known is the world we have now. The world where there is constant wars, terrorist attacks, food shortages, fuel poverty, endless lockdowns, lonely people, hatred, violence. I don’t remember the last time I seen a positive news story about anything. What is this world I find myself in? I am only a young man but for one thing I sure don’t know if I’d even want to bring children into this world for what it has become. What future would they have? Even when I was a kid the world was a nicer place even though 9/11 had just happened and everyone was semi on edge about it. But it just seems to get wilder and more chaotic every year that goes by. I find myself wonder what the major thing to happen this year will be?
I have been thinking recently about how things used to be as I struggle a lot more now. When I did more things which made memories I did not know I was autistic. I think the times I remember were when there were less changes and things were slower. There are positives of today, but the thing I find so difficult is the constant change which would make it more difficult for an autistic.