The need to be different.

 I'm going to say it, I'm going to use the word hipster. My definition of such a word is someone who tries to be different and is super proud to call themselves weird to the point where they randomly scream or say something "random" like "I love cheese" or "Potato" followed by "I'm so weird" with a triumphant grin.
I personally don't get it and I feel like it is a growing and pressurising epidemic.
      I remember when I was younger,  My drama group were all trying to come up with really different ideas to stage a production. "Oh no we couldn't perform in somewhere as boring and ordinary as a stage?! That would be madness, I mean when you come to think about it, isn't it a bit mainstream to stand on our  two feet, that's been done before!" So anyway that was what was running through all our minds until one guy said "why does it have to be different? Why isn't it OK sometimes to be the same?" And I remember agreeing with him at the time and I still do today because essentially to me being different and unique is in all of us naturally, you don't need to force it. In this case, while original ideas were great to use to add to the production, we didn't need to have a drag-queen Hamlet or rack our brains stress fully, we could use a traditional stage and setting but make it different with our acting.
    And I feel like life is the same. We don't need to put that pressure on ourselves to do something different or say something really out there just so everyone will think we're unique. If we're really being ourselves, we'll do and say what we want to, whether it be generic or revolutionary, but the way we do it is what makes us special.
  I would also just like to make a point that I think a lot of fearful people, who very much go with the crowd like to label anyone who dares to stand out and act on what they believe in  as 'hipsters' and that is certainly not where I'm coming from. I believe hugely in being different, what I don't believe in is being different just to be different.
       I think that you know yourself deep down when you're trying to be different and isn't that kind of clear that you do care what people think of you? We all have this notion that people who really care what people think of them are quiet, fearful and try to blend in so no one picks them apart but it only recently dawned on me that if you try and stand out just to stand out and essentially act like a hipster then you're just the same as the mainstream, crowd- pleasers.  Then you are just the same as the majority of the world who can't let go of others' opinions on them. What's actually different then is forgetting that need to be different, just like forgetting the need to be the same because  both lead to you feeling pressurised and bad about yourself.
              I suppose as I've written this thought process down and hopefully by you reading it we can come to the conclusion that hipsters aren't very different after all, their motives are just the same as someone who tries to be like everyone else. What I feel would be a useful exercise for us all would be to identify whether we like a certain thing because of what it brings to our life or because its different and out there or on the other side of the coin, 'mainstream'. It might take a weight off your shoulders to ditch the worry in your head of having to come up with an unbelievably original idea for something and instead go with your gut instinct. You'll always think of something much better.
                             
Answer these questions in the comment section below:
1. Do you think its a good thing to be my definition of a hipster? I'd love to know your reasons! Maybe you could show me something I never thought of?:)
2. Think of someone you know who naturally stands out by being themselves, what is it about them which is so unique?
                                 
                                                                                 Love,
                                                                  Rachel.=)