Renovation Column: Stop doomscrolling and embrace your ‘granny era’
One day you’re out clubbing until 3am and the next you’re getting excited that your hydrangeas have started to bloom.
The house move has only accelerated this as I now have half an acre of garden to get to grips with and a budget that requires me to learn ‘grannycore’ activities like reupholstering and deadheading.
I get excited about plant pots and look forward to feeding the birds, sometimes I don’t even recognise myself or how I got here. It seems like only yesterday I was begging my mum and dad to turn off Gardener’s World because it was ‘so boring!’ and now I'm looking forward to reading Country Life magazine with a cuppa (especially when David Beckham is guest editor).
But I’m not alone and it seems I am ahead of my time as Gen Zers are all about embracing the so-called ‘grandma era’ trend. I may have been born a decade too early to fit into this demographic but I don’t need them to teach this millennial grandmother how to suck eggs. I’ve been proofing sourdough, buying overpriced coffee, and baking banana bread since before they were born.
The 'grandma era,' while a social media trend, is ironically born out of a rebellion against technology and a desire for a digital detox. We live in a world where we doomscroll and swipe to the next thing if we aren’t instantly entertained, where we send a thumbs up emoji to our friends instead of giving them a call... it was only a matter of time before we realised our grandparents had it all figured out.
For me my 'grandma era' may be about learning new skills to help with the renovation but it's also about embracing or rather appreciating the smaller things in life – A good cup of coffee, a fresh pair of PJs and a nice bubble bath.
It's about valuing conversations with real people in real time, not a text, not an emoji but an actual face to face catch-up over a cuppa (in a granny style china cup) or a sherry if you want to fully embrace the trend.
Not to hark back to Covid times again but I do think one good thing to come from the pandemic is an appreciation for the slower pace of life. Being happy if you have one activity planned for a weekend rather than dashing about trying to tick things off your jam packed schedule.
So I think we could all benefit from embracing our ‘granny era’, regardless of demographic, if that means ditching the screens, getting out in the fresh air and learning a new skill. Being old fashioned is so on trend right now and I for one am here for it.
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