Everyone tells us to be ourselves, but they don’t like who we are.
First, you got to ask you, what is the self? You are you, and the self belongs to you. The self is the real you.
Sounds confusing? Okay, let me explain more.
While writing this article, there’s a Zach Sang podcast playing on the background and he is talking to the all time rock legend Avril Lavigne. If you have never heard of Avril Lavigne, she’s only but the best pop punk singer of all time! Avril got signed at the tender age of 16 and went ahead to make the greatest hits such as Sk8er Boi, Complicated, Here’s To Never Growing Up, Girlfriend, What the Hell? and many more. Legendary as she is, one thing often stood out about Lavigne- her style.
When Avril got famous, the successful artists of the time included Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and if you know their style back in the day, it was all…poppy? You know, all pink and shiny stuff. Avril came on with her dark lipstick, colored hair and unconventional way of dressing. She attracted sentiments, both positive and negative of course, from people around the world who followed her music since she was not doing things ‘how they were supposed to be done.’
Antonio “L.A” Reid, who first signed Avril Lavigne to Arista Records which was a major record label at the time noticed her for exactly this. Her smooth vocals and the new style she was bringing to the table.
If Avril had tried being like Britney, do you think we would have all those tracks on our Spotify or YouTube playlists even now?
Being your-self is accepting who you are as cliché as that sounds. Look, the world will try to change you. People will have opinions. Why? Because you are not them!
And when you listen to them and change, you become another version- a fake. You lose your-self. There is something called a sense of self and you can always feel when you lose your-self. You either get frustrated, depressed, worn out, tired of life and angry. Because you are not accepting who you are.
You get angry quick? It’s fine. Don’t let anyone call you an ‘aggro’ or ‘crazy.’ You like fairytale movies? Don’t let anyone call you ‘weird’ or ‘living in a fantasy.’ Who cares if you live in that fantasy? You like girls? Boys? No one? Who cares! You are being you!
The world hates people who are themselves. I recently watched two Kanye West interviews- one with Piers Morgan and the other with Tucker Carlson. There is a huge contrast between the two interviews- in the Morgan one you can clearly see the premeditated agenda to embarrass Kanye, and in the Tucker one, he is given a chance to fully explain himself. I don’t agree with everything Kanye says since I am my own person with an ability to form individual opinions. I also don’t agree with some of his direct attacks on specific communities but what happened to letting people be themselves?
Cancel culture is being popularized by media outlets and celebrities, where they want people to follow one narrative, way of living and doing things. Sorry, I never realized that there is now a ‘correct’ way of talking and living my life! I highly doubt one can succeed without walking on eggshells at this point in the world. Avril Lavigne would probably get super cancelled if she broke out during this time.
7 billion people in the world, but certain people want everyone to live the same way, talk the same manner and think on the same level. Whether it’s through content moderation or getting cancelled, being your-self is getting harder by the day.
We call the older days ‘simpler times’ not just because of the low prices of goods back then, but it was easier to maintain your own worldview and argue out with differently minded people without them taking everything personally. I pity the next generation since they will never get to enjoy those sweet moments.
Your self is you. An inner you. You are not who you see in the mirror- there is a you that talks to you as you sleep at night. The you that tells you to stop wearing that hideous brown dress just to fit in at the party you never wanted to go to in the first place. Your-self is your definition of you. Can you stand by them?
