Last Friday I stumbled across a New York magazine article about the shifting definition of today’s adults. Nothing new, mildly contrived, but nonetheless it hits on something that has been bugging me since I graduated from college.

Now, let it be known that I cannot identify myself as part of Generation X. That is my sister’s demographic, and try as I might to associate myself with it, I still missed it by a few years. But what is true is my association with the GenX culture. Working in the web/new media/dot-com industry, I tend to identify with this group when it comes to career. Maybe it’s all just envious thinking, I can’t objectively say.

Past the article’s fascination of clothing and music, though, is a deeper and what I see as more puzzling question of drive, ambition and career choices. Beneath the Chuck Taylors and designer blazers is the “not money but freedom” attitude, the idea that today’s adults refuse to lose their identity and soul to a job. It comes down to living your life based around passion. And this to me is The Idea that I’ve been wrestling with in the dark for the past five years.

I always assumed that it was my “artsy” side, as my friends would call it. Though I’m sure they always mean it affectionately, I recoil from this label, stung instead by the stigma of a class that is seemingly air-headed, wandering without attention or sense of responsibility. I resent that stereotype. But now I see that this term could signify “passionate worker,” not “boho weirdo.”

It is undeniable: I am someone who progresses through life in fear of losing passion for what I do. I see that flame as the life-force that propels me forward, justifies the adult sacrifices and hardships. Love of my career should be what makes me swing my legs out of bed each morning. And I am forever evaluating whether I am losing that passion.

The article makes this idea of passion pursuit seem noble. Romantic, even. But should it be admirable to shirk tolerance, suffering and fortitude in favor of the new, the exciting, the sexy? Yes, love should dictate actions, even beyond personal relationships. But love also requires patience, dedication, sacrifice and persistence. So when does this generation (myself included) stop being the gallant soldiers of passion and instead become egotistical job-hoppers with blunted copping mechanisms and a case of career ADHD?

I see my father just as the article portrays the boom generation: steadfast and full of resolve. I’m not sure the man has ever called in sick for a “mental health day,” nor have I ever heard him grumble about the simple fact of having to go to work. Yet, 90% of the people I know whine and bemoan this duty on a weekly basis, even to the point of contemplating career changes every two years. Why am I not more like my father? Why can’t I just go to work and perform, as opposed to fretting over whether or not I’m still in love with what I do?

Perhaps it’s that we grew up with a divorced generation of parents and learned not to fully invest yourself until being irrefutably lovestruck. Maybe, as the article suggests, we saw our parents put in thirty years of loyal service to a company only to be neglected upon retirement. Or maybe this generation is just a bunch of kids that grew up in the lap of relative comfort, and have not really had to pull themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps, and thus don’t know the meaning of “nose to the grindstone.” After all, doesn’t a certain sense of boredom come with luxury?

What I do know is that I’m unconvinced that the trait of being guided by passion is remarkable. It is intoxicatingly romantic to be sure, but something that we want to pass along to our children? Likely, my kids will grow up knowing me with earrings and listening to Rise Against and DJ Shadow. But at some point, we need to realize that it’s no longer about us, and instead about them. And the fine print on the GenX model is just that: they still only care about themselves. That is something I don’t want to associate with.