Hello and Welcome to Philosophy Friday; the day of the week where I tell you about people trying to be noticed, and people that manage to be.
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| Hooray. It's not blue... |
Have you ever wanted to be special or important in life? A figurehead that stands above others or leads from the front. Perhaps you just enjoy sticking out like a sore thumb in a crowd. (I know I do, nothing makes me giggle like nervous glances.) Strangely, it's rather difficult for some to pull that, or the opposite, off. Lets talk about that.
People try to be unique in life. In all likelihood, from a young age you were told to be unique and try to make something of yourself in the world. It's one of those parental pieces of advice that get passed on in the hope that the child will use it to develop any talents they have. Of course, you've probably also noticed that we aren't all astronauts or famous. It's something of a double edged sword in that it's also one of those pieces of advice that is quite difficult to live up to in our world.
So why is it so hard to be unique? For some, it's not; they simply seem to stand out, whether from the sheer power of the presence, or the way that they act around others. For others, we often attempt to use all sorts of other means to draw attention to us according to what we wish to portray ourselves as. The girl in the header image has a colored mohawk, and, if I didn't know that that image was photoshopped, I'd have told you that she was likely showing off disdain for common beliefs of beauty, and showing off her free personality. (It wasn't me that did the photoshopping.) Of course, doing things which shows off your personality, typically is an act of being unique, and, to a degree, often gets you noticed.
Perhaps a more first hand example is myself. My appearance is an effective analogy for my personality, both in the way that I keep to no specific style, sample many, and change it often. In this year alone I had hair long enough to nearly cover my neck and a beard that would make a hermit proud, as well as what is now the style you can find in the graphics all over this blog. (If, perhaps, I try to keep my hair a tad shorter on occasion.) Of course, regardless of how my hair is, or what style I am currently trying, I always ensure to be immaculately dressed because, well, it's awesome looking good. (Teehee)
In the past I've walked around a shopping center in a gangster get-up, complete with Waist-Coat, Trenchcoat and even a Fedora. (A white one with colored feathers for flare.) It was difficult for me to stop laughing at the everyone kept looking at me, and I'm fairly certain mothers actually hid their kids when they saw me coming. Probably didn't help that I hadn't shaved and so looked positively wolf-like in my stylishly shady getup.
In any case, moving back to topic, you can see that I've mastered the art of sticking out like a sore thumb for laughs. However, some people often wonder, despite doing things like that, why they seem to attract little more than passing glances as a result. The answer comes in the form of a somewhat poetic statement I came up with in a conversation a while ago. "In a world where so many people seek to be heard, only the loudest voices are heard above the crowd."
You see, the problem is not that most people are too boring to be noticed, but more that there are too many interesting people for each one to be noticed. At least not in the way they like. I should point out that few people are ever completely ignored in the world, they often just choose to dismiss the attention that they do receive. (I had a temptation to make a joke about accountants not being included in this rule... but that would be mean. Heehee)
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| That sums that statement up fairly well. Image is from http://www.explodingdog.com/title/justremb.html |
There are 7 billion people in the world, a fair deal of which are trying to seem like someone different than the other billions of people. Certainly a difficult things to do by any measure of the stick. Still, like anything in life, determination and perseverance can see you there if you're looking to be someone big, and a little bit of thought and self-confidence can have you standing out in whichever ways you want. (Like colored mohawks. I hear those are fashionable these days.)
So if you ever feel like you're being ignored, just take into account that Will Smith has 3 kids, keep your head up high, and just do the things that make you feel like you are behaving the most like yourself. I often say that confidence is everything, mostly because it is. One of the most important things I ever realized in my growth from a timid and introverted person into a largely GREGarious and extroverted person, is that pretending is not pointless, it's just practice. I found that I would often pretend to be a very outgoing and friendly person, and eventually, I got so used to it that it became who I actually am today. So keep that in mind if you aren't happy with who are. Pretend to be somebody you are happy to be. It helps.
In any case, I hope that you have enjoyed yet another insight into the strange way that my mind works; or maybe found something interesting to consider while you think about who you are, and who you would like to be. If you think that I should have added something, or simply wish to tell a story of your own about how you portrayed your own unique persona to the world, make sure to do so in the comments section below or by talking to me on Facebook and Twitter, (as seems to be the preference.) I always enjoy hearing what you have to say about these posts and discussions. If you have any other friends wondering about who they are or want to be, perhaps consider sharing this with them. They might appreciate the incite into how the world works. Of course, if you would like to read more articles like this one, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter so that you can get the latest articles, as I post them. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this article; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.
Vale amicis meis.
