I’m considered to be a “Gen X” person. That’s shorthand for “Generation X”, and it includes people born between 1965 and 1980. My parents are Baby Boomers. My two daughters are Gen Z. I have friends who are Millennials (also known as Gen Y). Millennials ‘came of age’ at the same time as Y2K, or the flip over from 1999 to the year 2000. All of which is fascinating – but – my recent time in the garden has got me thinking about ditching terms like ‘millennial’ and replacing them all with ‘perennial’.
I’m loving the idea of a ‘perennial mindset’ which ignores the year you were born and embraces a more ageless vibe.
The phrase came to me while I was sitting in the local community library flicking through a magazine called “WellBeing”. The magazine didn’t have a date on it, but I googled when Issue 212 was published and it said September 2024. So, I’m 2 years late to this concept… oops!
Then again, as I’m about to explain, it’s never too early or too late to develop an ageless mindset.
OK, so that’s a long introduction…
What IS a perennial mindset?
Let’s start with what the magazine says. Marie Rowland’s article suggests that the world often uses age to dictate our path. Instead, she encourages us to defy generational labels and embrace authenticity and self-expression.
You do you.
Who says you have to be young to be a backpacker? Why do you need to dress a certain way? Your interests can be intergenerational or ageless. In other words: you don’t have to “act your age”.
Instead of venerating youth, and falling into self-doubt as you get older, be confident and liberated at any age. This paradigm shift allows you to break out of the pigeonhole of other people’s perceptions and live the life you want.
Digging a little deeper, I found a seed-document from which most other material supposedly flourished. And it suggests I am not 2 years late to the perennial-party, but 10 years behind the curve:
Your Obsession With Millennials Won’t Survive 2017 – Fast Company
The author, Gina Pell, opens her 2016 article with an enthusiastic rallying cry:
This content is appropriate for people of all ages. And that’s the point. The days of targeting media and products at people based on their age is over. […Perennials] are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. We get involved, stay curious, mentor others, and are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded risk takers who continue to push up against our growing edge and know how to hustle.
She goes on to say she resents the faux-construct of marketers targeting people based on their age not their interests. She asks her husband if he can help her coin a new term for people who don’t see age as a number. He came up with the term ‘perennial’. She does a quick word search and finds that definitions and synonyms included: enduring, perpetual, everlasting, recurrent, and ever-blooming. Perfect!
Forget the need to drink craft beer, she says, grow a hipster-beard, or have a mid-life crisis. Millennials can be perennials. And so can all of us.
As life in the garden teaches us:
A perennial plant returns to bloom year after year, due to its strong root system.
A perennial person also keeps growing, regenerating and sprouting an infinite number of new ideas and attitudes.
I love it.
You are you-nique.
So you do you.
Bloom where you are.
Whatever way feels right.
My take on anti-aging
As a 50th birthday present to myself, I decided to go back to university to attempt a PhD. I reduced my paid-work hours, told my family they would have to help out more around the house, and I officially became a part-time student. When I turned up to the first student meet-and-greet (right before the Covid19 lockdown), another student asked me “why?”
Why start something which was supposed to help my career path moving forward. Why, I assume he meant, leave it so late in life, when my career was supposedly almost-over? I was shocked – surely there was no time limit on learning? No expiry date on curiosity? Sigh.
I smiled politely and kept studying. Even when I got sick (for better or worse) I kept studying with a chronic migraine. Eventually, at 54-years-young, I graduated as Dr Linda at last.
Here’s some photos of the highs and lows of my big day:
[Image source: me!]
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One last little insight before I sign off…
In my first post of this year (“2026 is going to be great“), I mentioned my admiration for an eclectic group of bad@$$ women. Here’s my love-them-list which still applies nearly a year later:
…the artist Frida Kahlo (who graphically managed her pain), Gaea (Greek goddess of the Earth (who arose out of chaos)), Taylor Swift & Madonna (singers who constantly reinvent themselves through new eras), Margret Chola (the Zambian ‘glamma’ grandma on Instagram), Mulan (legendary Chinese warrior who harnessed her Qi), Camila Franks (Australian kaftan designer, breast cancer survivor and CEO of her own body), and the Viking shield maiden Lagertha (a fictitious fighter/farmer).
Other than the reference to the ‘glamma-grandma’, age is not a defining quality of being a bad@$$. It’s attitude. Grit, skill, determination, talent, bravery, artistry, resilience, camaraderie, creativity, curiosity…
Age is just a number, and my number might be getting higher and higher, but I think of aging as a privilege not granted to everyone.
I am grateful to be the age I am.
I look forward to blooming as best I can, for as long as I can, as colorfully as I can.
And I wish the same for all of you too!!
Take care taking care,
Linda xx
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PS – if you want to see more of my anti-aging images, go over to my post: Did going gray increase my migraine pain? It includes my “bad hair day” student-admission photo where I have a very elegant ombre hairstyle after I stopped over-dying. Pre-perennial-me says “yikes!” Perennial-me says, “way to go lady; you do you!” 🤣
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