Just be yourself.

Judy Garland said it best when she said, “Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else”. Trying to be like everyone else with the fashions and everything else will start to get tiring after a while, and people can always spot a “fake”. We’ve all had our times of wanting to be like everyone else because we wanted to fit in, especially in middle and high school but by now shouldn’t we be done with trying to fit a mold of what everyone else thinks we “should” be? I know I am. I enjoy not following new trends and being different. While I do still wear Norts, Fratagonia, and Chacos, I do it in my own way. Nine times out of ten I don’t match or I have on leggings and an oversized tshirt while everyone else has on dresses and heels. I can honestly say while being “different”, I’ve met more people and people remember who I am. They may know me as “the blonde chick that never matches” but atleast they remember me! When I joined a sorority I felt like I had to fit a certain image and for a while I busted ass trying to, and then I finally realized it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth breaking bank accounts to rack up on all the “right” clothes and being at the bar at all the “right” times. If you can’t like me for who I genuinely am, then I don’t want to talk to you or even be around you. After spending so much time being “someone else”, you start to lose who you are like in “Runaway Bride” with Julia Roberts and the handsome Richard Gere. Julia’s character spent all of her time changing herself into who her boyfriends wanted her to be. She didn’t even know what kind of eggs she liked because she had always eaten her eggs how her boyfriends did because that’s what “they” liked. Finally, she figures out what kind of eggs she likes and yada yada yada, not going to spoil the movie if you haven’t seen it and decide to one day. Point is, she lost herself trying to be what everyone else wanted her to be. I’ve done that. I’ve been the converse wearing chick because I thought this guy was cute and wanted him to dig me. It worked but keeping up that image was difficult. I’ve been overly “redneck” because that’s the type of guy I was with. Ya’ll I can shoot a gun, but only at something sitting still and I don’t find hunting appealing. I’m not a member of PETA or anything, but what’s so exhilarating about killing a deer or a duck or a hog? I have yet to find that out. Throughout those times, I wasn’t myself, I was what I thought they wanted. Now, at 21, I feel like for the most part I’ve figured out who I am and have figured out what’s important in life for me. I remember when I was in high school saying I wanted to be married by 24 with baby number one on the way by 26. Now, my goal is to have a good, steady career around 24 and I’m just praying for a boyfriend by 26! It’s funny how growing up really changes your idea of things. I enjoy being me and doing the things I love, even if it is just laying on the couch watching Criminal Minds re-runs!


Remember, “Be a fruit loop in a world of cheerios”…