True Beauty Comes From Being Yourself

“Be like everyone else,” everyone used to say. “Be the same because it is what people want.”
This has to stop. Telling everyone to be the same is the equivalent of telling all of your kitchen accessories to be televisions. And what does the “same” mean? Ask the advertisements for soft drinks and candy being consumed by young and fit people, while behind the camera stands multiple people of multiple sizes.

No matter how much you try to sell this concept and no matter how many people believe that they are part of a compact, normal society, no one is. There is no such thing as normal because there is no true definition of normal. Normal is a word backed by society who manipulates all of us into thinking that the word can be defined as not unattractive in any physical or psychological way. Normal is an opinion that defines no person, place, or thing. It is merely an idea.

Over the last handful of years, advertisers have picked up on the “unique” trend that has been coming about. And now, instead of persuading viewers towards sameness, they are persuading them towards uniqueness. That is fantastic, if that were the case, but it is not. Rather than rethinking selling tactics and original ideas, advertisers have just replaced the word “same” and its synonyms with “unique” and its synonyms. Do you see what they did there? They are telling the whole world to be different in the exact “SAME” way. This is preposterous! This is an outrage!

This is capitalism.

Everyone has a goal in life. Some want to be at the top of a company that sucks money from people. If that is your dream, then congratulations. But if it is not, PLEASE do not let anyone (no matter how close you are to them) try to tell you that who you are is not good enough. PLEASE do not let anyone try to tell you how to act or what to say or what to wear or what to photograph or write or draw or paint or perform. Our “gut” feeling is always our best guide. Embrace that there is no one else exactly like you on this drowning planet. Go down with your ship because trying to impress others will never persuade them to save you. Only you can save you. True beauty comes from just being exactly who you want to be.