Today I somehow randomly thought of dreadlocks, and googled how to make them.
I always thought they were one of the coolest damn things a human being could wear, like gauges or tattoos.
But the thing is there's a difference between liking them because they're cool and liking them because they're cool to YOU.
Today the world is very diverse with body alterations and styles and what have you, now, there's a growing collective opinion that if it's popular, you either think it's cool or not cool. See what I mean? I think it's a matter of conformity vs. individual preservation, if that makes any sense.
I know kids that hate anything "main-stream". Hell, I hate main-stream music because it's a majority of artists that just don't make appealing music to me (no soul, no creativity, etc.) But I also know kids that are sporting cultural characteristics that have been around for decades, even hundreds of years (and others are calling THIS "main-stream").
For example, gauges, tattoos, and dreadlocks.
I like this trio because to me, they're traditional ethnic body modifications that are very primal, coming from ages when spirituality and artistic transformation ruled, as well as drastic changes in culture, government (i.e. times when Vikings, Greeks, and Germanic tribes would sport dreads). Plus these things were practiced for religious/spiritual purposes, which I salute.
I think this shit is AWESOME.
Not because I see a hot guy with a NIN shirt with full tattoo sleeves and a septum 2ga (Still, hot guys are hot guys XD Just kiddin'.)
I don't care if these things are popular. I don't CARE what OTHER people are wearing or whatever. I care about what I look like for myself. I don't want to get a tan to get the attention of a boy at school or make the other chicks jealous. I just like colorful skin. Is that so weird? I mean I like looking at all variations of the human body, mostly because I'm an artist, and just find certain variations beautiful.
I don't even care if a future-boyfriend will disagree with me. I don't care if my friends turn up their noses at how I want to wear my body, I'm doing it for me, not them. If they're good friends they'll stick by me no matter what.
Practice individuality. I don't mean think about yourself constantly, I mean be loyal to your opinions and ideas.
If your opinion happens to be that being selfish is the way to go, you kinda suck.
If you're the only one in your circle of friends that likes...say...math class, spiders, or Justin Beiber, be proud of it. If they like all that shit too, cool, having stuff in common with people is nice. The point is no matter the peer pressure, go your own way. If everyone is going to a concert featuring a band you don't care for, you don't have to go. I've made the mistake of going to places I'm not fond of only because all my friends are there. That situation varies and that's a subject for another blog someday.
I know a lot of people are pretty steady about this, but for those of you who aren't, I advise you get crackin' on it.
I have this friend that got a tattoo. It's just a tribal animal, and it looks really nice. Simple and accents his shoulder well (and he's an athlete so he has sexy fuckin' shoulders, haha). When I asked why he got it, the reason was along the lines of, "Because not many other people get it."
At first I was like, "OH YAH! SPLITTER! DON'T CONFORM! WOO!"
But now, I just think it's silly.
I gotta tell you (yes, more ranting about tattoos), when you're going to inject a hot, inked needle into your skin to create a permanent work of body art, don't fuck around. Later on, I bet my friend will think, "What does this even mean to me?" Sure, it's still a nice design and it'll age with grace because it's in a nice location and stuff, but he might not like it later because the foundation for getting THAT design was because it wasn't common. He was more into what other people have, or don't have, than what HE thought was awesome, no mater if it's popular or not.
I'm not gonna sugar-coat this individualism thing. You're always judged, whether you like it or not and whether you KNOW it or not. People will look at you and think, "What an ugly shirt," or even, "Oh wow, what an awesome shirt."
When you want to dress for others, do it. When you want to dress for yourself, do it. Maybe even do both simultaneously.
Sometimes when I speak my opinion, I'm shot down, even by friends or family. Man, I'll be talking about something I'm really passionate about and people look at me like I'm crazy, or an idiot. It pisses me off!
I know it sucks but it's normal. Just don't let it discourage you.
And remember kiddies, treat others the way you want to be treated...even if they don't follow the treatment very well.
"Honey you don't have to impress Jamie...you just have to be yourself.
Be yourseeeeeelf, be yourseeeeelf....be your seeeeeeeeelllllllllfff."
XD
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