Solstice, Gen X and Making Sense of the Madness

Why sometimes dancing might be just the therapy you need.

I graduated from UCL in 1991 into the worst economic climate since the Wall Street Crash of 1929, into a world with one foot in Music Hall Victoriana motifs, as live gigs from a myriad of psychedelic bands, eyes rimmed with Twiggy kohl pathos, screamed to rooms of skinny boys with bowl cuts and a certain Brian Jones pallor, gave way to rave culture, where live music was replaced by techno beats. Teenagers in size xxx tie dye t’shirts hitchhiked cross country to listen to repetitive beat music from large sound systems at secret locations - generally a cow-pat infested field. Which when you look back in nostalgia, does seem somewhat of an oxymoron. We came of age and access with brick mobile phones (one of mine literally caught fire), at the dawn of the technological revolution, with our education and careers on either side of the divide.

The model Stella Tennant, for a shoot by David Sims for The Face, styled by Anna Cockburn (I was the Fashion Assistant) in 1993.

We are the smaller sandwich generation between Baby Boomers, the post war forever in blue jeans kids of the 60’s, who never had it so good, quite literally, as they entered the workforce to full employment, cheap mortgages, and now enjoy triple lock pensions. Which seem as safe as the valuations on their houses, as long as they continue to vote in droves. And Millennials, who include former PM Rishi Sunak, future king, HRH Prince William, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom, Wes Streeting MP.

All this sandwiching between two larger (more financially and politically active) generations and recessions just when we hit adulthood, and again when we hit our career strides in 2008, means we are called, rather worryingly “The Forgotten Generation”.

I asked writer, climate campaigner and Founder of Mothership, Jessie Brinton, about when her climate crisis awareness began. For her this was back in 1992, when as a teenager she read about the Rio Summit, and “there was definitely a feeling of radical politics that followed (Mrs) Thatcher that was exciting to be a part of, and while I was too young to be a part of the Poll Tax riots, I saw it on the news and felt the outrage at the raves I went to, and felt that sense of reappropriating public space and how important that was, long before public space was almost entirely privatised.”

As we enter Solstice, the midsummer heatwave, with the longest day for Northern Europeans, where Scandinavians take the day off, wear flowers in their hair and dance around fires, so far, so Gen X, Jessie’s eco-conscious outrage mirrors concerns that we only have 3 years to limit warming to 1.5% according to more than 60 leading scientists. "Things are all moving in the wrong direction," said lead author Professor Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds in a recent study published in the Earth System Science Data Journal. "We're seeing some unprecedented changes and we're also seeing the heating of the Earth and sea-level rise accelerating as well." These changes "have been predicted for some time and we can directly place them back to the very high level of emissions", he added.

At the beginning of 2020, scientists estimated that humanity could only emit 500 billion more tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the most important planet-warming gas - for a 50% chance of keeping warming to 1.5C.

But by the start of 2025 this so-called "carbon budget" had shrunk to 130 billion tonnes, "Continued record-high emissions of greenhouse gases mean more of us are experiencing unsafe levels of climate impacts. Temperatures have risen year-on-year since the last IPCC report in 2021, highlighting how climate policies and pace of climate action are not keeping up with what’s needed to address the ever-growing impacts.”

The solace I take from being Gen X, is my utter sense of survival when things (literally) heat up. A product of the Welfare State, I saw first hand how rave culture broke down class, gender and race barriers.

The flats above the shops where I grew up, from photo taken in 1976, you can see my bedroom window. These post war flats for Blitzed out Londoners have recently been demolished to be replaced by private housing.

Jessie said: “amazing trance music, and techno and then hiphop, political hiphop, I truly think trained my brain to understand social movements, politics as well as connection to the earth. And of course we were doing this without mobile phones and social media… But I have been pretty disappointed by Gen X, people got into their 30s and went to gastropubs and seeking high levels of comfort, as it was hedonistic instead of political and a sense that we haven’t really done our work yet. I still massively grapple with the fact that Boris was our only Gen X PM and now Gen X women are voting for the Far Right in America.”

Angela Rayner MP is Gen X (born at the tail end in 1980) and this might explain why when she took to the decks in Ibiza, filmed by noughties icon Denise van Outen - which in itself is a combination which just keeps giving - she won the Gen Z award for Brat politician of the summer. She’s a teenage mum turned Deputy Leader, who worked her way up from union rep, hasn’t dropped her accent, or her authenticity and this is where the power of owning your values has to be seen as the Gen X asset it is.

So as Gens Z and A buy the clothes Gen X wore on Vinted or on Brick Lane, they are dressing like us and unlike Millennials I would argue they are thinking like us. Like us, they are growing up with the uncertainty of war in the Middle East. The attacks in Gaza, Iran and Israel as frightening for them as the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait were for us. Intergenerational dialogues are gaining traction, especially as younger generations—Z, A, and coming up strong in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 at school Gen B, contend with the emotional fall out of the Covid lockdowns, identity politics, the rise of populism and the confusions of facing those, a climate crisis and constant talk of war. For anyone, that’s a lot. Imagine being 7 - 21. A stiff upper lip is not going to cut it anymore. Much of the conversation revolves around the stress and burnout these groups face, emphasising the need for support and development. In this context, Gen X plays a vital role, as we are the generation who via rave and its focus on wellbeing are totally ok with talking about our feelings, and bolstering the collective. I would argue that we are poised to influence the next two decades for several reasons:

Leadership Transition: With Baby Boomers retiring at an estimated rate of 10,000 per day, Gen X is stepping into critical leadership roles. Let’s lead a wellbeing revolution.

Technological Bridge: Gen X is uniquely positioned at the intersection of old and new technology, having experienced the internet's dawn and now navigating artificial intelligence. Our insights from both the tech boom and the 2008 economic crash are invaluable. Let’s see failure as a space to learn.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Gen X is known for its innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, contributing to advancements in personal computing, mobile technology and digital media. Influential figures like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk are all part of this generation. Let’s use this for good, not for phallic spaceships.

There is a certain neat irony that Instagram was ablaze this week with the story, that ‘researchers from University College London looked at brain scans and genetic data from over 35,000 people. They found that listening to rhythmic beats in that tempo helps improve brain health and lowers cortisol, a stress hormone linked to ageing, by 20%.’ However I cannot find the research to back this up, but really hope it is true and that raving is the elixir of youth!

So, wherever you are this Solstice, and however you are feeling, I hope you have a wonderful weekend of sun, of laughter and of peace. Above all, of peace.