I went to this party last night and I ended up talking to this guy and he didn't know the Beatles and wasn't into comics and didn't really watch sports and wasn't like into superheros or anything. I asked him what he did. Like if he didn't like any of those things, then what did he like? I realize that this is only a very few things within the grand scheme of everything to do in the world, but I feel like it covers a lot of bases. Especially for the modern generation that we are living in. This is what our popular social culture is throwing at us. I know that supposedly being a "nerd" is hipster or something. But lets face it being hipster is cool. The strict definition of hipster is someone who is on the fringes of society, squeaking past social norms, finding their own path and moving away from the mainstream. If we are truly honest with ourselves though, the idea of a hipster and what it personifies has completely changed. Now being hipster/hippie/nerd etc is the cool thing. It is consistently being portrayed in our social media. We have superhero movies galore, main characters are getting consistently more geeky. Less of them are sports jocks, they have trouble getting the person they love, they like some form of creative work, such as drawing, writing, or acting. They are often times seen as the "loner" the "outcast" or the "misunderstood". So I would have to go out on a limb and say that being "hipster" is no longer hipster. It could possibly be said that labeling yourself at all is seen as mainstream. By labeling you are announcing to the world what and who you are for their approval. True individuality does not seek out a label, but only strives to be them. Perhaps this label is a further personification of societies struggle to compartmentalize. Everything around us, every thought, every thing, every action gets categorized and filed away. It could be as simple as right and wrong (if such a thing ever was simple) or extremely defined such as yellow green and green yellow. Why do we do this? Does this make us feel more secure in our world? I have no idea why detaching things from each other could make us feel more secure, but maybe that's how we detach them from ourselves.
We consistently say "God is everywhere" yet we also consistently keep him in very small parts of our lives (of course I know that not everyone is this way, but I find the vast majority of people do this) like church or devotion. But when it comes right down to it, we don't see God most places. If God is in the child being baptized on Sunday morning then he is also in the robber cleaning out your register at gunpoint. We inherently refuse to believe that these people are a part of God. Surely they must be as separate from God as the Devil (which is another misconception that I wont even begin to get into). But my point is, why is it so hard for us to see all the connectivity between everything? Why is there hipster, emo, jock, hippie, goth and not just people? I think it would be much more beneficial to try and define oneself from ones own ideas. Sure you can't escape society, and why would you want to? That doesn't mean you have to become a slave to it. Don't be afraid to think differently or to agree. If you feel something is right or wrong then you should stand up for that and to hell with what everyone else thinks. For every person that doesn't like you for it there is another who respects your thoughts and beliefs, even if they are different from their own. In the end, do you want friends who are only your friends because you are a social clone and walk mindlessly with the sheep or because you are a free-thinker, independent and unafraid to challenge peoples ideas. I don't mean that you should be confrontational and mean to those who don't feel the way you do, that's borderline persecution. Ideas should be able to be shared freely and without judgement with your true friends. If you are a "hipster", aka skinny jeans, ironic t-shirts, and pseudo-vegetarian (and this isn't just a culmination of personal choices that happened to end up this way) then maybe you should play a little trivia with your friends to see just how "hipster" they are. I went to a fest with my friend who I thought was "cool", aka open-minded, accepting, forward-thinking and after one day she starts going off on these people and all their life style choices. Someone who I thought would be accepting and interested in different points of view just turned out to be a big ole, one sided, my way or the highway bitch and I lost all the respect I had left for her. Of course I understood that I couldn't change her mind, so I just listened and let it go and we drifted apart, but it made me realize that we didn't have the supportive friendship that is really important.
Maybe I've gotten a bit off topic, but I think it all boils down to what I meant to say.
They by Jem
I'm Mav and that's what I think.
"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
that loved me, and alone..."
PS: I am on the Vine now (that app with the videos) and you can follow me at Mav. Also, don't forget I am on instagram as well @TympanicPulse. TympanicPulse is also my gamer tag on xbox 360.
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