When Did Being Yourself Stop Being Cool?

I grew up before everybody carried the internet in their pocket.

No social media.

No influencers.

No likes.

No algorithm telling us what everybody else was wearing, eating, buying, saying or doing every second of the day.

Were we influenced by people?

Of course.

But there was something different about not constantly having access to everybody else's life.

We had room to figure ourselves out.

And lately I've found myself wondering:

When did being yourself stop being cool?

When Did Fitting In Become the Goal?

We've always had trends.

But now we can see millions of people participating in one almost instantly.

A phrase catches on.

A sound catches on.

An aesthetic catches on.

Suddenly everybody's doing it.

Again, trends aren't inherently bad. Some are fun.

But I think we should occasionally ask ourselves:

Do I actually like this—or do I like knowing everyone else likes it?

There's a difference.

And that question applies to much more than clothes.

Careers.

Relationships.

Businesses.

Parenting.

Beauty.

Success.

Even opinions.

It is incredibly easy to mistake belonging for sameness.

Belonging Shouldn't Require Disappearing

This subject hits differently for me because belonging has been part of my story for a very long time.

I'm adopted.

Questions about identity, family, difference and where I fit didn't suddenly arrive with social media.

They've followed me throughout my life.

Maybe that's one reason authenticity matters so much to me now.

I've learned something:

Belonging isn't supposed to require erasing yourself.

If the price of admission into a room is pretending not to be you, that's not belonging.

That's performing.

What If Different Became Interesting Again?

Remember when having your own style was actually the goal?

When discovering an underground artist felt exciting?

When somebody had an unusual hobby and instead of thinking, “That's weird,” you thought:

“Tell me about that.”

I want more of that.

More curiosity.

More individuality.

More people making things because they thought of them instead of because they saw somebody else get 2 million views doing them.

More businesses with personality.

More kids growing up believing different isn't a defect.

More adults remembering the things they loved before they started worrying about whether those things looked impressive.

That's Why This Is a Movement

Make Being Yourself Cool Again® isn't just something I wanted to put on a shirt.

I want somebody to see those words and think.

Maybe even question themselves.

Am I being myself?

I want a kid to wear it.

A teenager.

A 45-year-old.

A business owner.

A mother.

Someone rebuilding their life.

Someone still figuring theirs out.

Because this isn't about having everything figured out.

It's about giving yourself permission to figure it out without copying somebody else's answer.

Let's Make Originality Cool Again Too

The internet doesn't need another version of everybody else.

Your community doesn't.

Your workplace doesn't.

Your family doesn't.

The world has already had everybody else.

It hasn't had your version of you.

So wear the weird outfit.

Start the strange business.

Ask the question.

Make the art.

Tell the story.

Change your mind.

Laugh loudly.

Begin again.

And when someone thinks you're a little different?

Good.

Maybe different was never the problem.

Maybe different is exactly what we've been missing.

Make Being Yourself Cool Again.

KEEP BRANCHING

By Hadassah “Das” Collier

Founder, Das Effect LLC | Creator of Make Being Yourself Cool Again | Host of Das It & Planted on Purpose