Re-style

What goes around, comes around  - so the saying goes. Considering our collective fascination with Downton Abbey, I think many of us are hoping  that certain styles are ready to make a make a comeback. 

Fashions are just one example of trends that get recycled. Ideals are another. I love how millennials are coming into their own while simultaneously embracing stories about former generations. Downton, the Broadway sensation Hamilton, even a renewed interest in Shakespeare and poetry recitation; these are just a few examples. Tattoos are definitely in again, and civil rights has re-surged as the topic of the day, not that that's a bad thing. But... it isn't a brand new thing either.

Neither is dismissing one's parents as old-fashioned. 

"As much as any generation doesn't want to conform to the established way of thinking, they can't help but embrace the mindset of some former age."

It is not only normal for offspring to rebel, it is historical. Throughout the ages people have tried to be different from the generation immediately preceding their own. Often that means retro values come back into vogue.

"Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" was something my mother grew up with, and that many of my generation preferred not to embrace. My own ideals tend to be a tad out of step, since I lean toward my predecessors more than my peers. I'm glad to see simplistic living gaining momentum with the younger crowd. Sometimes though, I feel I little "old hat" - kinda tired and used up - especially next to my teen-aged daughters and their friends. I'm talking about more than body image here. Even though we share a love of many things (like Downton), we experience them differently. I wear second-hand bargains because it makes sense for the family budget; they do it as a fashion statement. I try not to waste anything because, well, I hate waste, whereas arguments about carbon footprints go further toward their participation in recycling. We both invest an inordinate amount of time in learning, but while they spend it hoping to secure a good future for themselves, I'm just trying to catch up to dreams put on hold. Whether material or idealistic, it is our way of viewing the world that separates us more than anything. Still, the result is the same.

One thing I long to see come back into style for all of us - and sooner than later, please! - is putting commitment to family and community above self-interest. Seeing more of the picture than just our own little perspective is something we ALL need to work on in this culture of self-indulgence and immediate gratification. Living more simply now, and considering others while we do so, may well be what prevents us from real hardship later on. And it's what may prove necessary for our survival in the end.