So-called millennials are silly little narcissists with nothing to offer, as you’ve heard over the years.

Pragmatic idealism finally seems to be more frequently recognized as a millennial trait. The New York Times was littered with buzzwords and phrases to describe this generation: they prefer to improvise solutions, they want to acquire less not more, are “indifferent to prestige brands” and “collectively” veer towards companies that display “good citizenship.” Other words that describe pragmatic idealism are ones like community/communal, empathy and faithful (as in faithful vegans).

The article called Millennials are Generation Nice makes some excellent points:

–Empathy: They are introspective, complex because of the many crises and “public traumas” they have witnessed.

Ah…. to live in 1998. I would sell everything in this closet to pay off my student loans. Then buy a whole new wardrobe with the leftovers.

–Pragmatism: They’ve witnessed slow reactions to many crises so don’t really put their trust in institutions. Working at the speed of the internet “they [prefer] to improvise solutions to the challenges of the moment.”

–The workplace: Though they’ve been screwed by the economy, but they aren’t trying to “fix” the financial situation that led to the bubble popping. They prefer less, not more. They prefer a job they are passionate about with less pay than a boring one with higher pay.

–Entrepreneurship: They “pursue their own ventures” because the corporate world is perceived as not only unfulfilling, but also with a lack of job security,

–Responsible shoppers: Repeating the theme of not being into money, they don’t care about “prestige brands” and are loyal to ones that are giving back.

Humans of New York

–Food: locavores and vegetarians. The millennials moms I have met are passionate about their varied food philosophies. The common thread is that millennials are “faithful” to whatever beliefs they choose. They practice what they preach. Oh, and they expect you to also.

–They give ordinary things and people dignity. A great example of this was the milleninal creator of Humans of New York. I think other examples ot this are Upworthy, and even just filtering ordinary moments on Instagram. Even with the satires of IG, I think it’s a healthy trend of embracing the ordinary instead of always striving after more, more, more!! which is not a millennial thing…

–Finally, they are indeed hard workers, but they know that hard work doesn’t unfortunately pay off. But in regards to failure:

“They believe their own best days are ahead.”

me too! how about you?

P.S. Baby Z is masked to hide his identity, but he apologizes for keeping me from writing. He’s almost 6 months old now!