SWING TIME

page 54

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h Life In My 20s

Young adults have the opportunity to carve out a
life they want, not one they dread

.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

"Ask Me"

LIFE IN YOUR TWENTIES

GENE
WARF

Will We Kill
Culture?
Will They Kill
The Economy?
The Sexy
New Feminism
All vs, Tyson:
The Digital
Showdown
Oliv

JEWISH NEWS

.

H-

w
D

50

it appears the nationally context that is going to engage
distributed, 100,000-read- them," says Ms. Liberman.
er publication is
The covers alone may
meshing with the
grab the attention of
Ab ove:
interests of Ameri- Bold coy ers try to twentysomethings scan-
ca's seemingly lost grab the attention ning the newsstands.
of Am erica's
generation. Swing
Each issue is dynami-
receives letters in twentyso methings. cally splashed with bril-
response to the sto-
liant colors and
ries it runs — which do not provocative images: the Febru-
in any way shy away from ary 1997 issue features a couple,
controversial or tough top- seemingly unclothed but covered
ics. The cover of the June neck-to-toe in brilliant pink flow-
1995 issue, for example, ers. He's looking at her, she's
features two women in a looking at the reader, and the
romantic embrace. The sto- headline says: "What is love in
ry: "Lesbians until gradu- the '90s?"
ation," an underground
Ms. Liberman says the edito-
Ralph Lauren's son David, Swing editor-in-
phenomenon known as rial staff seeks "young, up-and-
chief, turned a college idea into a career.
"Lugs."
coming writers: some of them are
Issues covered in Swing people that we have read in oth-
"I think there are certain
things that we always know run the gamut, from how to deal er publications; some are really
young people want to read about: with losing a parent to politics to making their first real break into
relationships, entertainment, love. Last March, Swing took a publishing here. We are trying to
music, movies, sports. But they're look at spirituality, including a cultivate young writers and have
also interested in issues, as long story on young Jews who were this be a place where young writ-
as [the issues are] made acces- raised in fairly secular homes but ers who are talented can get their
sible and framed for them. Gun who have chosen a more obser- start."
control to social security, but take vant lifestyle.
If you can't find Swing on
"We believe any issue can be Detroit newsstands, call (800)
a young person's spin on those
written about for readers in this 456-0149 for subscription infor-
stories."
If reader response is a gauge, age group as long as it's put in a mation. ❑

Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into my
thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt; ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.
I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn, and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden, and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.

— William Stafford

have noticed that people de-
fine us by what we do, not
by who we are
Think about it You're at
a party, the bar, a friend's
apartment In walk some peo-
ple you don't know. You all
start talking, break off into

smaller- conversations, What's
the first thing you hear? 'What
do you do?"
Now, I know that for some
the occupations of others are
intriguing, fascinating, inter-
esting, cathartic. A vicarious
thrill? Perhaps. A way to de-
termine who the person stand-
irig before you actually is? Not
so sure.
For those of us in our 20s,
with careers just beginning to
bud, who we are has been a lot
longer than what we do. I grad-
uated from college four years
ago. In that time, I have been
a journalist, in three different
cities, Yeah, that's cool to some
people. It's what I do.
But ask me what I do, and
my reply will be: I write. I love
it That's who I am.
Who I am --- who we all are
— is far more complex than the
9 to 5 definition. For example,
I am not a desk-sitter, but I sit
at a desk much of each day,
It's enough to make you
want to run away sometimes.
What happens if, God forbid,
you lose your job? Do you cease
to exist as a viable person?
And what attracts you to an-
other individual? Looks, defi-
nitely. Conversation, certainly.
The multifaceted components
of his or her life? For sure.
Job talk: conversation starter

or because you have nothing
else to say? Yes. Self definition?
No
Jobs come, and jobs go.

Hired one place, you leave, find
another. A career is the way we

make money, afford the lives

we dream of Nothing more
nothing less,

I was raised to believe that

you do what you love; if you
don't love what you do, find a
way. I was taught that it's up
to me. That's a pretty valuable
lesson to learn as a child, even
more valuable if carried into
adulthood.
And yet, I have had the un-
fortunate experience to work
beside people (not at The Jew-
ish News, of course) who be-

moan their occupations, dread
coming to work, for whom Sun-

day night is the most depress-
ing evening of the week.
For people like that, who
they are and what they do be-
come one and the same. They
cannot see past the place that
employs them. They place
more emphasis on their hated
jobs than on their friends, fam-
ily, spouse. Where they work
and what they do steals the at-
tention. away from the warmth
of the st,m, the smell outhide af-
ter it rains, the way a puppy
discovers new territory. Work
becomes their lives.
In our 20s, we can prevent
this from encroaching upon the
lives we are beginning to lead.
I don't know about you, but I
am just getting into this thing

called "My Life."
The other night, I saw a sliv-
er of the moo

