To act careless and unapologetic in this time is undoubtedly a risk in itself. This ‘time’ I’m referring to is a vital aspect to addressing my philosophy. For a typical teenager, 2019 is a time where your biggest concerns are on materialism and social media. Hopefully, this article will allow readers to reconsider where our priorities lie. 

Companies would go nowhere without making us experience self doubt, and furthermore, social media would change entirely if we showed our lives for what they are. Instead of posting our breakdown of the week, we share pretty (sometimes facetuned, let’s be honest) pictures from our best friend’s party. If we actually love ourselves unconditionally, what kind of money would  a company like Sephora make? No, I have no personal disgruntlement with Sephora, but I do have tension with the way our world receives energy, because so much of the air we breathe is negative. 

The lack of insight our followers get in the low points of our lives leaves them with guilt about theirs. But to actually display your life with all of its neutralities and lows feels impossible. With every intention of being dramatic, it’s viewed like a fish walking on water or the two political parties getting along- utterly impossible. Now, to challenge yourself to enlist in that society of judgement is an empowering move. It can be scary to put yourself out there and be assessed and oftentimes ridiculed, But honestly, who cares? That’s the intention of this: to make the reader not care and to instill doubt in a destructive system. 

We focus too often on what we don’t have, don’t do, or don’t understand. But what if we used our weaknesses to our best ability? To address something is the first step toward taking the power away from it and thereby inspiring others. Imperfections are something that all humans have in common. Afterall, we unite so often through gender, race, ideology,etc., and now I propose that we branch out through what makes us real: our flaws. If we create a union of people that have the same sources of self consciousness we may find beauty in them, and thereby ourselves whilst both supporting them and challenging the system. That is why I love drawing attention to my own imperfections. Not only does it make people laugh, but people see that they’re not alone. 

Now, instead of grouping together, what can we do as individuals in order to carry ourselves with enthusiasm? On a personal note, I find endless amounts of joy in self-expression and saying how I feel as long as it isn’t at the expense of others. . The other day I was in Ms.Clark’s class when she told us that the test we had today was going to be a lot tougher than the last one. After re-considering it a few times, I said,“shoot, I got a C+ on the last one,” and everyone laughed. Sure, now they know I can’t memorize how to plot a graph to save my life, but I’m sure other people got bad grades too. The results of that were unity over the poor performance on the last test, and a lighter mood. The main thing that allows me to do all of this is self-love. I know that I’m a good person at the end of the day, so everything else is secondary. That’s the root of my ability to facilitate self-deprecation with a positive outcome. It takes a strong person to laugh at yourself without strings attached, and by no means is it initially easy. 

If I want the reader to take anything away from this, it’s to reassess the importance of what controls your headspace. Honestly, a lot of it isn’t important. Forget your instagram caption, focus on the wellbeing of yourself and those around you. If seeing someone on your timeline upsets you, just unfollow- it’s that simple. Life is way too short to let yourself get hurt by the little things. Love yourself, let go of toxicity, and the rest will follow. Flaws are natural and beautiful. Goodbye facetune, and hello acceptance.