PLEASE, IF YOU CAN, TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS!!!!
From where I’m standing it seems to be getting harder to function in the modern world. There seems to be rules and conditions attached to everything we do and say in society today. We’re all governed by some sort of fear. The fear of rejection, the fear of people seeing our little flaws, the fear of standing out. As hard as some may try to clutch onto that little bit of individuality we’re slowly moulding into one big unit. We’re becoming clones, slaves to the ordinary. Different is scary. Society cannot handle it if somebody does something out of the norm, if they mess with the system. Everybody has to be put into a box and labelled so they can be understood and make people feel at ease. It’s easy to see a woman with cropped hair and baggy clothes and call her a “dike”. It’s easy to see a big busted girl with blonde hair and call her a “bimbo”. It’s easy to see an awkward kid with glasses and acne and call him a “nerd”. That’s how we’re processed and kept in check. The hard thing to do, for a lot of people, is to squeeze through the narrow mindedness of the label and see every aspect of the person. Everybody has got good points, bad points, funny points, and interesting points to their character. To see them as one little thing is sad and insulting. People aren’t allowed to be anymore than a face attached to some sort of stereotype because society today can’t function on individuality. Individuality doesn’t mesh as well as conformity in the modern world.
Label me, I’ll label you
It’s a vicious circle
We all fall into.
It’s a vicious circle
We all fall into.
I believe we’re all locked down to a certain way of thinking. I like the idea of freedom of choice and freedom of mind but in today’s world I wonder how independent our decisions and actions really are. They seem to be concepts of careful design by the media and the advertising industry. Nowadays it’s impossible to get from the morning to the night without seeing some form of advertising. Celebrities (if you wish to call them that), corporations and the media in general pump our homes and minds full of stuff we must have to survive. It’s promoting the comfort of purchase. The newest car, the bigger house, the newest mobile phone, the latest fashions, the hottest brands, the newest diets, the sexiest looks, what’s in, what’s out. It’s slammed at us day after day after day wriggling its way into our minds and laying its greedy money hungry eggs infecting us with the desire for the things we don’t really need. They may be shiny and pretty but ask yourself: Are you buying this stuff for yourself or for the people who look at you and think “Oh, I wish I had that”.
Brand names are so hollow
A status for the weak
Those with nothing else to offer
And are to afraid to speak.
A status for the weak
Those with nothing else to offer
And are to afraid to speak.
The desire to be admired and adored is something a lot of us want. We look at rock stars, movie stars and famous people in general and are in awe of their glamorous lifestyles and mountains of cash and crave it. But I believe that if you live in the shadows of other peoples triumphs your own will never be achieved. You’ll never be Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Britney Spears, David Beckham, Mariah Carrey, Paris Hilton or any of them. But who is to say you can’t be as great? Fame is abused and easily acquired these days. Any monkey dancing to the sound of the turn box on television can have their fifteen minutes of fame. No effort, no talent, no problem. Using your own traits, skills and talents to achieve what you really want (not what the media tells you that you want) can be so much more rewarding. Fame shouldn’t be a goal, it should be the by product of doing something worthwhile. If you need the respect of the masses to make yourself feel happy and meaningful you need to look inside yourself and ask some questions. People are people and no amount of money or fame can ever take away from the fact that everyone is just like you and me. Nobody on this planet is immune to pain, stress, worry, heart break, fear, disease. We are all one and no man made designs or concepts can ever change that. Nobody on the great scheme of things is higher than you are and you should never elevate anybody above yourself just because they’ve stared in a movie or been on television. Most of them have used they’re talents to get where they want to be so why not use yours to get to where you really want to be. There’s no magic formula or spell that got these people where they are. They’re idols because we perceive them as idols. Be your own idol.
I am human my heart beats
I am human I can feel
I am human I am real.
I am human I can feel
I am human I am real.
“Just be yourself”. This is a common phrase that’s said to all of us at some point in our lives. It’s a positive message and a wonderful guideline to life. We all like to believe we’re unique and special in our own way. We like to think that there are pieces of our character that are distinctive. I am sure that there is, but the trick is to find that. It’s difficult to be ourselves in a world where every single day we’re told how to look, how to act, what to buy, what to think, what’s “cool.” We’re caught up in the mainstream of society shaping ourselves into how others want us be. It‘s important to remember that “cool” doesn’t exist. “Cool” is a term that was invented by the masses to set certain people higher than others and to sell products. Just because someone buys into the latest trends, wears the most expensive brands and has the newest gadgets it doesn’t make them “cool” and doesn’t make you a “loser” or unworthy because you don’t have it. We’re conditioned to think this way by the media so we’ll buy and buy and buy some more. They use the sexiest girls and the good looking guys to sell their products inventing the image of how we’re supposed to look and for the most part we lap it up. If you buy this you can be great. If you look like her you can be adored. If you wear this she’ll fuck you. But do we benefit from our purchases? Perhaps, in a way, we do. Since this is how we’re supposed to be, and this this is what we’re supposed to buy we must, by definition, be “cool” in the eyes of society. If everybody thinks this way and I buy into it then I’m safe. I’ll be accepted, I’ll be “cool”. But the real benefactors of all this are the head executives of the big companies, the media giants and the advertisers. If they can keep the masses in check and keep changing what’s “in” they can exploit the fear and sell more. So to really be yourself you have to stand back, look at it and think “Do I really need this stuff?” “Does it really enrich my life and make me happy? “
It may be fine for you to sell your soul
But this is one mind you’ll never control.
But this is one mind you’ll never control.
Shattering the mould and really stepping out of the norm is quite a difficult thing to do. A lot of us know all this stuff already but knowing and doing something about it are two completely different things. It’s hard to swim against the current and be the sheep that doesn’t follow the others. There’s ridicule and scornful eyes cast upon you when you step out of the pack and take your own path through life. But the next thing that we know, but should really remember, is that what other people think doesn’t really matter. If you can step out of the box of “What will they think if my hair isn’t like this?” “What will they say if I’m not as skinny as her?” “What will they do if I don’t go along with this”, you realise what a small box you were in in the first place. If you can peel off the label you’ve been branded with and be comfortable with every aspect of yourself then you can be truly happy. You’re not a faggot, a nerd, a freak, a geek, a loser, a dork, a bimbo or any other derogatory term used by the many to bring us down. Remember these labels were invented to lock us down and make us feel insecure and to think less of ourselves. These labels represent the sections of society that are not generally accepted because they fall out of the image. You’re not what they say you are you’re what you know you are. It’s not about the newest trends or the best body; it’s about how you perceive yourself. Not how society perceives you. To truly see the real you, you have to strip away every superficial article in your life and take a good look. You’re not the car you drive, you’re not the clothes you wear, you’re not the people you associate with; you’re the product of your thoughts and feelings and if you’re not happy with them, you have to make some changes. Your mind is the most powerful tool you possess and you shouldn’t let anybody control it. I’d like to leave you now with a famous quote from the late Bill Hicks, a great comedian and visionary thinker of our time:
"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and its fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride. And we kill those people. Because other people say: “Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real." It’s just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love.”
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