Conformity, Vanity

I can openly admit to conforming in my life. Obviously, a lot of us have or even still do. But, that's normal for humans. Whether we notice it, or even acknowledge it, we conform to some sort of group or even "clique." Though, in my opinion, there's a limit.

Someone very close to me--a family member--is nowhere near original. She doesn't stick out in the crowd and has no true identity. As harsh as I sound for being so critical, I love this person to death. The truth just hurts. (Luckily for me, reading isn't cool enough to her. So my blog is safe). 

Scrolling down my news feed on the Wonderful World of Facebook, I see that this person has "liked" a few pages. I wanted to see what those pages were, so I clicked on them. Every single page she had liked were practically the same. Their titles were various forms of the phrase "not giving a f**k."

Not only is that... ridiculous in so many ways, it's also not appropriate for her age. (I realize the more I write about this person, the more some of you would be able to figure out who it is. Though, I won't openly say her name, for the sake of her privacy). She's thirteen years old and everything she posts and likes are full of F-bombs and the word, "damn."

Now, how does that relate to vanity and conformity? Well as for the conformity, this person does it because the rest of her thirteen year old friends do it. Whatever they post, she posts, only with some words rearranged. It's almost like a form of plagiarism. 

I tell her, constantly, "Be original. You're a clone of all of your friends." One of two things happen after that. Someone jumps to her defense and makes me look like the bad guy, or she just gives me a look that is the equivalent to saying "stfu."

Vanity.

That's practically it's own section. But in a sense, I can loop it right back into conformity. This person who inspired me to write this post, she always says, via Facebook and Tumblr, "I'll do me, you do you."

Wrong.

She isn't doing her. All of her friends do, and say, and feel, and think the same. They're selective, all together, about who they talk to, who they associate themselves with. They carry their ignorant selves around as if they're better than everyone else. You can always tell who those people are when you see them. And I think that it's really degrading to their personalities. Or should I say personality, since they've all got the same one. 

Now, this family member most definitely isn't alone. There are tons of people, my age and older, who are plagued with either one of these terrible traits. 

I conform. I can't help it. But, I limit myself. I have a lot in common with a lot of people. But it isn't to the point where we lose our individuality. We--my friends and I--we are set apart by are differences, duh. But, the problem with people is that some just can't seem to let go and just be themselves. 

Urban Dictionary may have been helpful for any of you readers that may be a bit outdated. ;)