Have you stopped to think about whether you actually enjoy what you’re doing, watching, wearing and entertaining? It’s questioned whether following the crowd is just “trend following” or if you are being robotic to your way of life. We are zombies– not literally, but mentally. Our brains are begging to be used, but they receive little to no effort in return. We must stop relying on everything around us to discover who we are. There is little to no fun in being the same as everyone else and we have lost touch with the originality of living. When did we stop thriving to learn and embrace our identity for who we truly are?
“I would say social media influences my style a lot,” said freshman Tyler Pritchett. “I like to dress kind of cute and cozy at the same time, but if I grew up in the 2000’s, my outfits would be tea.”
Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram are all platforms we use to dictate the way we dress. They’re great to spark interest– yet everything seems copy and pasted. Trends go in and out faster than you can even form an opinion on them. We follow behind others, because the thinking has already been done for us. The mind is a mystery, and it’s meant to be discovered. We are meant to form our own opinions, have our own beliefs and like things because we truly like them– not just for a trend.
“I love to serve looks with my outfits and all,” said senior Rueben Griffin. “You know a lot of people don’t do that. I hope more girls can come in and serve the looks and fits they want to, as I did.”
Style is a way of self expression and it forms our every move. You have your own avatar and you get to decide how it dresses each day. You get to personalize it the way you want to. We have the advantage to show ourselves loudly, but we fail to use it. Understanding the process of making choices because you want to will form a connection with your inner self. You can’t know who you are if you’re performing as someone else.
“If I were younger, I would probably try to look like everyone else so I could fit in,” said History teacher Robert Michelle. “As I get older, I realize I don’t care to fit in. I like to be comfortable.”
When we look back in time, we notice how style has heavily evolved. Style can mean something totally different to you, then it may mean something else to the person on your left. Music for example is a trend that goes in and out every few years, but it all eventually comes back. It’s all because of one fact: we change. We are supposed to change and learn to adapt to changes because it’s good for us. The hardest part of living may be switching it up, yet without it, we would all be the exact same. That’s boring. To be yourself is to live.
The world will keep spinning, and everything will keep evolving. If you feel like you’re on the bandwagon now, you won’t want to stay the same forever– it may just come with time. Learning your identity is a character development. To watch and copy is a theft of your own light. Why rob? While we watch the trends go in and out, we can stop for a moment and just watch from a far. It’s great to fit in and it can feel more safe. It is also a blessing to stand out and show your differences to the world. Focus on learning who you are, you may discover a person you wish you had met a long time ago.
“My style is old and I don’t look at any of the styles that are going on, it’s not anything I care for,” said Michelle.
