Sorry, You’re Not Really A “Free Spirit”
It’s OK not to know who you are yet.
Free Spirit
Nowadays, many people consider themselves “free spirits“. They aren’t “hipsters” who claim to love things “before they were cool,” and flood their wardrobes with the wares of thrift store sprees. No, the people I’m talking about claim a particular mindset, a particular way of thinking.
Most would say the thought process of a “free spirit” would be barrier breaking and revolutionary. Ideas such as refusing to conform to society’s expectations, doing exactly what one wants, and forming a one-of-a-kind self-identity come to mind.
Really A Free Spirit?
For as long as I can remember, I was under the impression that a “free spirit” was simply an independent person who needed absolutely no one else to tell them what to do or offer their opinion. THAT to me was a free spirit.
Now, as I’ve people-watched my way through social endeavors, I’ve come to find that pretty much everyone thinks they’re “free spirits”. Even though I will watch them completely contradict their claim with their every action, they will continue to describe themselves as free-spirited people.
Bandwagoning Away
Honestly, I think “free spirit” has become the mainstream character description. Everyone supposedly has their own views about style, music, etc. Yet I don’t feel like I’m ever watching or talking to individuals, but like clones. I’m not saying everything every single person says is the same, but the intent behind it seems so. Truth in character no longer resonates.
False Advertising
No one wants to believe something isn’t true, but it happens everyday. Girls and guys make themselves seem perfect to each other, friends make false promises, and people buy into faulty business proposals. What’s even more disturbing is that “free spirits” probably don’t even know that they’re spitting out a fictional descriptions of themselves. They are lying to themselves and the people around them.
Wishful Thinking
Then again, watching someone claim to be this one-of-a-kind speck in the population is somehow refreshing. It’s possible that these people wish they were as free-spirited as they say they are but simply haven’t grown into themselves yet. Perhaps these claims are purely advertisements for the type of person they will soon become. There is a tendency for people to deceive others because they see characteristics in other people that they hope to meet in themselves.
Be Honest With Yourself to Be Honest with Others
It is incredibly important to understand yourself before you start to self-promote. It’s okay to notice flaws in yourself, and it’s okay to not be okay with them. Perhaps you aren’t secure with your own beliefs, or you may feel uncomfortable doing things on your own, but that’s fine. What is not okay is to put on an act that makes you seem like the ideal form of yourself.
So before you step out into the world and introduce yourself, make sure that you know yourself. You wouldn’t support a political party if you didn’t know what they stood for (even though some still do), and you wouldn’t say you were a student if you weren’t enrolled in school.
It’s time to stop using “free spirit” to describe every person out there that has managed to go against a particular typecast. It dilutes the value of the term, and makes it sound just as silly as it is to hear someone say someone is a “hipster.”
