I’ve always kinda been myself. Never tried much to fit in. My path since youth has been one of continued self discovery, comfortable just being me outside of the occasional teasing from family; who can be your biggest bullies. If you can persevere the ridicule of blood relatives chances are anything anyone says to you outside the walls of your home has little to no effect on you. 

In Highschool I had a teal colored Jansport. In the 90’s everyone had one, not so much a teal color way but the brand. There also were fakes and knock offs you didn’t want to be caught with. Right now you can find the backpack I had as a vintage item being sold for as high as one hundred fifty bucks on eBay. I’d likely fetch less for mine even in mint condition as I altered my bag just a bit. 

One day I took a seam ripper to the back pocket of this backpack, something you'd see from time to time, especially at Art & Design, some kids would do full art pieces on them. I wasn't one of those kids. No, I had another plan. I sewed a denim pocket from an old pair of jeans to the back and added a zipper to open and close this new pocket now occupying the once negative space. The responses from what I remember were mostly positive. It was different. I was exercising my creativity. I didn’t need permission. I wasn’t competing with anyone, anything or any algorithm. 

I've seen too many people stray away from their intrinsic nature of creativity in a pursuit to garner attention following and making content, doing whatever the current trend is, not in the real world but trends which only exist on the internet. When one hasn't found success in the thing they love, the great pasta toss begins. Let's see which one of these social media trends sticks. It's crazy, in 2024 there are people who still believe and actually say, "I'm gonna go viral!" 99% of the time of course they don’t.

At this point we’re all taking chances playing the lottery of visibility game in Meta apps. Still, not all of us have succumbed to the if you can’t beat’em join’em mentality. Many continue being true to self regardless of 2D red hearts and a bump of dopamine in our digital bubbles becoming more and more gamified each day. That's some insidious shit.

Some may read this ending as an Andy Rooney like open letter or the proverbial old dude, waving his fist, shouting at tresspassers to stay da fuc off his lawn. (I’m sure some don’t even know who Andy Rooney was.) 

It’s simply an observation. 

You don’t have to throw spaghetti at any wall. Just be yourself. Be remarkable. You weren’t born to follow online trends and compete with Al Gore’s Rhythm. 

- C.