Growing up my mom worked a 9-to-5. That meant she had weekends off. She had evenings free. Sometimes she could come home, take her bra off, put her feet up, and just be herself.
Back then, there was a line between work and the rest of your life. There was a start time, a stop time, a clock-out button, and even if the job was stressful, there was space for a social space, an emotional space, and a physical space that was often encouraged by employers. They knew children get sick, and there were recitals to attend.
Most of us in this generation don’t know that anymore.
There is no clock-out now. The grind is constant.
We are expected to be “on” all the time.
Work long hours and prioritize family at the same time.
Respond to every message and look good while doing it.
Heal in real time.
Tell the story before it even makes sense.
There’s no safe zone, default privacy, and no guaranteed break from being perceived.
Even when you’re alone, you’re not alone.
You’re thinking about what you have to do and haven’t done yet.
Thinking in your mind about what I forget, and how you’re falling behind.
Whether you’re building fast enough.
Whether anyone even knows you’re still here.
It’s not just burnout. It’s chronic exposure, and that affects your anxiety in ways your body doesn’t always have language for. You stay overwhelmed. You forget what rest even feels like. You can’t tell the difference between who you are and who’s watching.
This isn’t just about phones or apps or hustle culture.
It’s about the fact that the kind of break our parents got doesn’t exist anymore.
The “come home and decompress” version of adulthood?
Gone.
We’re being forced to evolve in a world where rest is rebellion and quiet is suspicious.
So, how do you evolve anyway?
You stop waiting for the break you’re never going to get.
You stop waiting to be fully healed, fully rested, and fully stable before you show up for your life.
You create pockets of privacy inside the chaos.
You let “no” be a full sentence.
You remember that disappearing isn’t always dangerous, and being seen isn’t always safe.
You evolve anyway by being honest about how this world has changed, and how you are changing with it. Not to perform. Not to please, but to stay whole while everyone else is faking it.