If an average 24 year old human specimen from a developed country was given four months to do as he pleased, without the worry of producing his own shelter and sustenance, what would come of it? Progress? Enlightenment? Laziness? Debauchery?

I can be a pessimist at times – seeing the good in people only after vetting their less desirable qualities. I don’t just apply this opinion to individuals, it can scale to the breadth of my generation. I think much of my generation has a penchant for sluggishness. The ubiquitousness of the Internet and the rise of all things tech has yielded an expectation for the world to come us, when in fact it should be the opposite. My generation needs to actively work to defeat the desire to just “keep on keeping on”. When many of my peers have time, I find all too often that it is not applied towards progress. I hope my findings are just a false generalization.

Given the choice and resources, many would be as content as pigs in shit to plop on the sofa and consume hours upon hours of garbage, sensationalist, reality TV programming (yes I’m talking about that curvy, dysfunctional, Persian clan that everyone loves to hate), just to have a distraction from the void in their existences that they would rather not work to fulfill. Probably because after a long day or week at work, that would be just too much…work. So, I’ll interact with the citizens of the world – mostly millennials – to find out if this the reality of the situation.

Thus begins the experiment. With my free time over the next 116 days, I’ll work voluntarily. Not to put food on the dinner table or to cut that outrageously expensive rent check on the first of each month. To expand my horizons and to find some type of fulfillment. The kind that comes from leaving the safe harbor and getting out into the world, engaging with others and the surrounding environment.  I’ll work in the pursuit of fulfillment, deeper self awareness, new friends, and discourse on what’s really important to the people I meet: What do they like to eat? What makes them happy? What is it that brings them together?

But let’s be real, you know me, I’ll be partying plenty, making sure I give new meaning to the term “work hard, play hard”. Cheers.

Photo: Big Band on Royal Street (French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)