Labels

Everyone finds comfortability in judgement, the first thing you do when you see someone, whether it be standing around, having a conversation with someone else, or maybe talking to you for the first time, the first thing you do is try to throw a label on someone, it’s not anyone’s fault, it’s simply what we as a society have deemed the correct thing to do. But first, allow me to preface myself in saying I don’t want to give a negative speech or sound like a preacher at the same time. I’ve never been one for attention or others pity, so writing a speech that would avoid both sounding like a not-so-wise rabbi also trying to avoid self-deprecating or gassing myself up enough to further inflate my ego,I’ve learned a lot in the past four years of my life, people say you find yourself as a person in college, but regardless you lay down the foundation to your formation in high school. For me? I’m a football player. I listen to rap music, I work a lot, and I’m a little too wise for my own good. I sat trying to figure out a ton of spiritual, emotionally appealing things to make everyone else make me think I knew something, then I decided to write this.

Now, you might be under the impression I’m going to tell everyone not to judge others, give everyone a chance and don’t hold people to your own images. But, as I started this entire thing with, it’s natural to want to do exactly that as humans, so trying to use a graduation speech to change the way society thinks is ridiculous. So, rather than change the way you think of society and others within it, I want you to change the way you think of yourself within society. Labels are a deadly thing because we pigeon-hole ourselves to the way we interact with society to fill in the labels we’ve put ourselves into. Just because you’re a football star, doesn’t mean you can’t play NBA 2K, spend six hours on a Sunday night seeing what happens if you trade modern day LeBron onto the 95’-96’ Bulls for MJ, see what team does better in its time period, and what player puts up better virtual stats on a damn video game. Or, although you listen to rap music all the time, don’t think that since you got some Freddie Gibbs on, you can’t listen to that Frank Ocean album, and brandish loudly that you enjoyed a “chick” album. Or, because you work 40 hours a week, you can’t leave early on a Friday night and go crash on Ethan Barnett’s couch when you have to open the shop at 10:30 the next morning. Or, even though you’re a little to wise for your own good, you have to read insanely ignorant memes and listen to 21 Savage in your spare time, knowing damn well if anything one would be making themselves more ignorant than they were prior to indulging.

Just because you spend every evening doing hours of advanced placement college classes doesn’t mean when your cousin asks if you want to go to a bonfire that weekend and drink some with her, that you have to think about how you’re a straight A student with an amazing reputation that cannot risk ruining. Be yourself, think for yourself, and don’t allow outside entities you’ve created within your own mind control what decisions you make. You’ll surprise yourself and others. I’ve always heard throughout my life “wow you’re a lot smarter than I thought”. Now that’s partially due to societies labeling of people, but once you break out of your own individual box, you’ll find yourself surprising people less and less, as people just think of you as an individual rather than a stereotype, or generality. The classic phrase of “once they get comfortable with you” (they never shut up,are annoying as hell, hilarious,goofy etc.) will be gone. You can feel acceptable being you around everyone. I’m not saying you have to be outgoing with every person you cross, but not feel the need to hide your character until you feel you’ve earned the trust of the people around you to not pass judgement on you.

To spice things up and leave a goofy quote “I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”~Ray Bradbury. One would be amazed, people will show how they truly feel about you once you are able to reveal yourself comfortably within there space. My advice is that if those people elect to show disapproval among your individualism,living in a world with a lack of self thought and revelling in classification,do whatever you please.

Photo by BagoGames on Foter.com / CC BY