Monday, January 28, 2013

"talk about what you love and keep quiet about what you don't"

so....
this has been on my mind
and i have to write it out.

it all started when my brother posted a picture of me on 9gag,
which was extremely unflattering, with me in sweats and making a squinty face
and with the caption "my sister being a hipster"
because i was taking a picture of my mom's birthday cake e.g. food.
and people (strangers) shared it on facebook
and i'm sure they had a good laugh over it.
(you're welcome for the link, by the way. i'm not afraid to look lousy in the internet.)
i guess i don't really care
but...

something in me just snapped,
oh-so subtly,
and i started noticing all the labels and just plain ole negativity around me.
it's everywhere
and it has been slowly breaking my heart bit by bit.

it continued scratching at my insides
while my sister and i were watching twilight
and i thought about a little twihard somewhere in the world
who genuinely loves those books or movies
who feels like they have to keep it quiet
because there are just so many voices saying it's worthless and/or stupid
and that people who like it are some kind of uncultured yokels
who don't know the meaning of real entertainment.

and i, to be perfectly honest, shed a few tears for that person
who feels like he has to keep something so unbelievably harmless
and something that makes him so very happy
a secret.

and yesterday.
hashtag vineapp
i saw so many people trying to drive wedges between themselves and the rest of people on social media
or they were somewhat patronizing themselves by saying they were a follower
or "just part of the trend"
for giving in to something that could generally be very cool
and that a lot of people were genuinely excited about
and that a lot of people had a lot of positive feelings about...
something that i think is genuinely cool.

i've been overly receptive to this lately,
i admit it.
but it has been making me so very sad!

you don't have to demean yourself for liking anything.
nothing.
never.
never do you have to do this.
let yourself like things and get excited about it
whether two people or two thousand people are talking about it!

you also do not need to let everyone know when you dislike something!
i know i am guilty sometimes.
in no way am i saying i am always positive!
it's just incredibly boring to hate things.

all of these thoughts made me watch liberal arts again,
which i just love
and i felt inspired to share these clips again.

watch them in order, if you will.




so... i just want to issue a challenge to whoever chooses to accept it, including to myself:

talk about what you love and keep quiet about what you don't. 
because it's actually really boring to hate things.
and
never demean yourself for genuinely enjoying something!

but, ya know...
if you really want to say that you don't like something
let yourself, too!
it's okay! don't be a robot!

i'm just sayin...

antagonism has been accumulating out there
just pooling up
and it just sits there. like, forever.
ugh.

on the bright side,
it has inspired me even further to be a beacon of positivity.
because i don't like heavy metal.
i don't like some books.
i don't like some tv shows.
but i would hope that i could at least say that i try my hardest to see the value in everything
and that other people are allowed to like all of the things that i don't like
and i don't ever have to make myself feel bad for watching twilight while i do homework
or taking pictures of food, because i actually find food to be really beautiful
or wearing fake glasses, which i have done since i was in grade school.
or downloading a popular app
or getting excited about it.
because i want to share the things that make me happy!
and so do you!

because a lot of people are going to like the same things
probably all at once
and that doesn't make them any less cool!
i'm so thankful that there are so many people out there that want to share what they love with the rest of the world,
hoping it will make others as happy as it has made them.
i love it!

you can completely hate trends or you can completely love them
and either way you are still beautiful and amazing and cool and mostly HAPPY.
because either way it makes you happy!
i hope that you will make people feel the same way when they like things, too.


if you need to let your dislikes out,
write it down or yell it out or get it out of your system! do it! be healthy!
and then think about what you love!

because there is way too much in this world that we can love
there there should be no time to even focus on what we hate for even 30 seconds!

am i right??

SO JUST LIKE STUFF, OK?!




xo.

9 comments:

  1. i'm totally in agreement.

    here's an article you will probably like. it came out a few months ago in the new york times and it's about living sincerely, without irony. i loved it.

    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/how-to-live-without-irony/

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    Replies
    1. one of my favorite articles! WHAT. sincerity is one of my favorite qualities. like. ever. thank you for making that connection!! love this!

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  2. i love this post and i couldn't agree more :)

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  3. this is such an amazing post. lately i have been doing a lot of thinking about how to live a happier life, and how to live a simpler life. one thing that continues to stick out to me is keeping a postive attitude about EVERYTHING! i seriously couldn't agree with you more. i think it is absolutely ridiculous that i sometimes feel the need to hide something i really enjoy just because i will be so harshly judged for it. you really just have to do the stuff you love, and not care what people say.

    this really was so well written, and i agree 110%

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  4. AMEN SISTA! you speak my language and it makes me happy. the world needs more thoughts like these. I truly thank you for sharing. :)

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  5. this post is so empowering ayley. i especially love the bit about unashamedly loving the things you love, even when a high majority hate them. be proud of yourself without demeaning others. i need to be more appreciative of myself and the things i like. i need to worry less about unfair judgments others make and even vocalize. i need to be me and i need to be so wholeheartedly. thank you for once again inspiring me and for being so willing to talk about the "scary" things others shy away from.

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  6. Thank you for this Ayley!!! I've been feeling this a lot lately where I feel I need to keep parts of my life secret due to society's judgement. You can't live life to the fullest when you have to act like someone else around others to fit it due to feeling like you have to fit in and go with what others say. I needed this :)

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  7. thats exactly how i felt about loving miley cyrus hahah. i feel this way about life tooooo!

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