The legacy of 2014, now in its waning days, will be contemplated in countless year-end retrospectives. But for one of my best friends, summing up the past 365 days was simple.
"2014 was the worst year of my life," he said.
Now, he was obviously being a bit dramatic, but his sentiment is born from something I think all new "adults" can commiserate with. Let's call it millennial angst.
Think teen angst displaced a few years, and with some extra responsibilities added in. Instead of blaring pop-punk songs and whining about how the world just doesn't understand us, we're drowning our sorrows in bottomless bloody mary brunches and realizing that we just don't understand the world.
That's why, as New Year's Eve approaches, it's tempting to look back and feel like you've been kicked around with little to show for it. For many 20-somethings, I'm sure 2014 wasn't easy.
For me and my friend, it was the first year we didn't spend even a day in school. And to go from that microcosm of a world to the "real" one has been jarring.
In 2014, I saw my boyfriend lose the job he had fought so hard to get. I watched my friend get his heart broken (likely the impetus for the "worst year" comment). I experienced my college friends falling out of touch even though we swore it wouldn't happen.
But 2014 has also brought some amazing accomplishments. For me, it was the year I upgraded my apartment and the year Baltimore went from feeling new to feeling like home. For my friend, it was the year he came out to his friends and family. For my boyfriend, it was the year he bounced back and found a better job, one that he likes even more.
We all compile these "best of" and "worst of" lists because it's comforting to organize our lives around chunks of time. That's where New Year's resolutions originate — it's easy to grasp for 2015 and declare it "the year when I'll finally (insert unrealistic goal here)." And when we're floating around in the 20s abyss, clinging to that concept is even more appealing.
However, as any 20-something is constantly reminded, "adult" life doesn't fit some tidy time frame. And it's certainly not defined by sweeping milestones, as much as we may want it to be.
The truly important stuff lies in the cracks, in the day-to-day victories and struggles.
So my honest "2014 in review" should focus more on those nights when we made a real dinner and laughed at the latest John Oliver episode, or those days when work sounded awful but we went anyway and it wasn't so bad.
It's stuff that might not stand out years down the line, but it's the backbone of all of those highs and lows that will. I know 2015 will be the same — some monumental occasions sprinkled throughout mostly average days. And that's OK.
This New Year's Eve, all angsty millennials should have at least one thing to celebrate: We're heading into 2015 another "adult" year wiser.
Just remember that your party or night out will probably be a letdown because everyone knows New Year's Eve is overrated. But that's a whole other issue.
Ellen Fishel's column appears regularly in b.
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