Have Millennials Lived Their Whole Lives in One Year?

Did you experience massive amounts of change in the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic? You’re not alone, and now that COVID-19 numbers are beginning to drop, many other millennials are voicing just how drastically their “normal” has changed in the past year. In fact, for some, it feels like they’ve lived an entire lifetime in the past year.

Let’s take a look at why your life may look rapidly different than it did just 18 months ago.

COVID-19 Adjusts All “Natural Order”

Many millennials have experienced some (and perhaps all) of the following over the past 18 months:

• Dating someone new
• Moving in together
• Getting engaged
• Planning a wedding
• Adopting a pet
• Buying a car
• Buying a house
• Starting a family

That’s a lot to manage for anyone especially in the midst of a global pandemic. If you’re feeling like your world looks nothing like it used to, you’re in good company. Many millennials are starting to wonder whether they would have done all those things, in the order they did them, in the tight timeline they did without the prompting of COVID-19.

Countless have observed that COVID-19 not only adjusted the natural order of relationships (personal, familial, etc.), but it also accelerated them in many ways. Someone you met on a dating app may have become a fast companion because of lockdowns or restrictions that were in place at the time. Instead of going through the traditional milestones of the first date, first kiss, first night at their place over weeks at a time, couples began moving much more rapidly.

They spent not one or two evenings a week together watching a movie or grabbing dinner but instead spent days working remotely together and nights sleeping over to avoid having to see people outside of their “bubble.” The cumulative hours they spent together began to multiply, and before long, these couples were effectively living together. Engagement and marriage were on the table and so were quarantine pets (or even babies!).

If you started this process somewhere in the middle, you could understand how it would have sped up the timeline as well. Perhaps you were already planning to move in with a significant other or preparing for a wedding when the pandemic hit. Nonetheless, COVID-19 impacted all those life events because of how it changed the world and the way we think about our lives.

Where to Now?

The pandemic is waning, and countless millennials are waiting for their “normal” to return. Yet, while your life may look incredibly different now than you would have envisioned it a couple of years ago, that’s okay. You took the steps you did at the time with the information that you had. What’s important now is that you continue to be intentional (consider writing a personal vision statement!) about the next steps you take in your life and relationships.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what that looks like, contact the Quarterlife Center. Having your life change so drastically in one year can be a lot for anyone to handle, and we want to help you experience growth and fulfillment from wherever you currently are.

If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment or you’d like more information, please call us at 1-844-QLC-TALK (1-844-752-8255) or email us here.