These past few sunny days have got me reevaluating my life, priorities, and goals. Yesterday I sat outside one of my favorite coffee shops in the hot (what!?) sun and just wrote out a list of things I really want to do, just for me, not for anyone else, and it was exciting to feel a shift from feeling obligated to do things for other people, to feeling in charge of where I want my life to go. I suppose it's fitting that such a feeling coincided with Easter, a holiday all about new life, resurrection and re-birth.
It's crazy how many voices there can be in your life trying to tell you how you should be, live, look, feel, etc. Advertisements, television, movies, magazines, friends, family, and even blog readers are all piping in with their two cents (or more) about who you should be. You should be skinnier, healthier, have longer hair, be more trendy, be less trendy, be a part of a subculture, avoid a subculture, be more eco-friendly, make more money, get tattoos, don't get tattooed, wear "feminine" clothes, be less intimidating, etc., etc., so on and so forth. It's unsustainable at any level, to take in all those opinions of who you should be and crank out some version of yourself meant to please all of these different people and influences. It'll probably be a shitty, watered-down version of yourself, too. Bill Cosby once said, "I don't know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
I think it's important to remember that not everyone is going to like you. And why should they? Everyone has very different likes and dislikes. You don't like everyone , so why should you expect everyone to like you? Of course not liking someone doesn't mean you're rude and mean to them, it just means that you recognize that you guys have different interests, different values, different things you enjoy doing, etc. You're not going to be everybody's cup of tea, it's just a fact of life. The sooner we all come to terms with that fact, the happier we'll all be, because we're no longer living to gain the approval of people who don't like us. I remember in Jr. High I had a crush on this boy. He was funny and kind of cute (to my 13 year old self), but he was a total asshole. For some reason I wanted him to like me. Of course I went through the grief of being rejected, but I wish I'd had the self confidence to stand up and say, "hey, I'm pretty damn awesome, and if you don't like me, I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you of that," and just moved along. It seems so obvious in cases like that, but those situations still happen as adults. Maybe not with liking a boy, but there will always be people wanting to give their opinion on who you should be. The important thing is to know who you are, and to not let anyone water you down. There is only one of you in the world, why try to be someone else? Like Judy Garland said (aren't I quote-y today?), "Always be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."
It's crazy how many voices there can be in your life trying to tell you how you should be, live, look, feel, etc. Advertisements, television, movies, magazines, friends, family, and even blog readers are all piping in with their two cents (or more) about who you should be. You should be skinnier, healthier, have longer hair, be more trendy, be less trendy, be a part of a subculture, avoid a subculture, be more eco-friendly, make more money, get tattoos, don't get tattooed, wear "feminine" clothes, be less intimidating, etc., etc., so on and so forth. It's unsustainable at any level, to take in all those opinions of who you should be and crank out some version of yourself meant to please all of these different people and influences. It'll probably be a shitty, watered-down version of yourself, too. Bill Cosby once said, "I don't know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
I think it's important to remember that not everyone is going to like you. And why should they? Everyone has very different likes and dislikes. You don't like everyone , so why should you expect everyone to like you? Of course not liking someone doesn't mean you're rude and mean to them, it just means that you recognize that you guys have different interests, different values, different things you enjoy doing, etc. You're not going to be everybody's cup of tea, it's just a fact of life. The sooner we all come to terms with that fact, the happier we'll all be, because we're no longer living to gain the approval of people who don't like us. I remember in Jr. High I had a crush on this boy. He was funny and kind of cute (to my 13 year old self), but he was a total asshole. For some reason I wanted him to like me. Of course I went through the grief of being rejected, but I wish I'd had the self confidence to stand up and say, "hey, I'm pretty damn awesome, and if you don't like me, I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you of that," and just moved along. It seems so obvious in cases like that, but those situations still happen as adults. Maybe not with liking a boy, but there will always be people wanting to give their opinion on who you should be. The important thing is to know who you are, and to not let anyone water you down. There is only one of you in the world, why try to be someone else? Like Judy Garland said (aren't I quote-y today?), "Always be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."
dress/forever 21 :: cardigan + tights/courtesy of modcloth :: hat/thrifted :: jacket/lulu*s
shoes/courtesy of seychelles :: scarf/vintage (grandma's!) :: shades/vintage
Whew! Feeling wordy today, I suppose. On to the outfit! Remember my mustard polka dot cardigan? Well ModCloth got a couple more versions in different colors, and I couldn't resist, as it's the perfect cardigan for mixing prints and works so well with all my nipped waist dresses. Plus, Washington weather, even in the summer, usually calls for a cardigan or sweater, so you can't have too many.
I had to pair it with my polka dot seychelles, and this fun navy and white scarf which my mom mailed me! Apparently, when her and my dad were at my grandparents' house the other week, she grabbed some of my grandma's old scarves for me! They're all so pretty and colorful.
Oh! And I did a little interview this past week with Valentina over at her blog, check it out!
I had to pair it with my polka dot seychelles, and this fun navy and white scarf which my mom mailed me! Apparently, when her and my dad were at my grandparents' house the other week, she grabbed some of my grandma's old scarves for me! They're all so pretty and colorful.
Oh! And I did a little interview this past week with Valentina over at her blog, check it out!
