Wednesday, January 23, 2013

GROUPthink....

Group Think
They Play it safe
Are quick to assassinate what they do not understand....
They move in packs
Ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another....
They feel most comfortable in groups
Less guilt to swallow
They are us
This is what we have become
Afraid to respect the individual
A single person within a circumstance can move one to change....
To love herself
To Evolve

~ E. Badu

I've always loved me some Erykah!  This pictures is one of my favessss!  She reminds me of myself, I love colors and sneakers are a girl's best friend! #phuckyopumps :-))  Back when she released Window Seat she had a "group think" awareness movement going, mainly on twitter, and I thought it was sooo true and also interesting.  She would ask people what their definition of group think was and all her followers gave so many good answers.

We have all been guilty of group think and sometimes still are apart of it.  Growing up, we are taught by schools and other places how to act, dress and talk in order to be successful.  How to look to get a job or to be accepted by the "heavy hitters" and sometimes that image is not who we really are but it's who we need to be in order to gain what others feel is success.  So as you get older you tend to lean towards what the "group" is doing...the group who seems to be HOT but when that gets old you have to change to still be accepted by the new "it" group or hot trend.  At some point enough is enough....it becomes stressful because in that moment you think well what about me???  What do I like, how do I feel and who am I?  Oftentimes we know who we are but the fear of not being accepted keeps you going down a path that you know is not genuine to YOU!  No one wants to be standing alone but if standing alone means you have been true to yourself then do just that!  There will definitely be replacements for those who have walked away and the new replacements will like you for the real you.

It seems social media has created the new age high school popularity contest amongst late 20s and 30 somethings....it's crazy to me the types of things I see on social media and most people do this all for the sake of some "likes" and ego boosting commentary.  While those same people are the main ones saying the total opposite off social media.  Social media was initially started for networking, keeping in contact and pure fun but now it seems to have become a sport and everyone wants to be apart of the GROUP.  It's even gotten so bad that if you simply don't push the "like" button then you have all of a sudden become the biggest hater in the world.  Nope my dear, some people may actually be OUT LIVING their lives and just didn't see your picture or they could have genuinely not liked the picture and that is ok...

I am striving to live a genuine life from here on out and be true to me and what I believe.  I know I have not always done that in the past.  When you are apart of a group it's hard to not pick up habits and thoughts of others and act in ways you normally wouldn't act if you were separate.  All things are not meant to be understood but as E. Badu says things and people who are misunderstood so often get assassinated.  And the assassination is done by those who barely know themselves but have cheerleaders to make them feel as if they do but being real with ourselves is not a big deal anymore as long as others like who we are on the outside.  I want to live a life showing my son that he can dress how he wants, state how he feels...respectfully, be himself regardless and be happy.  So the next time we are about to comment on the person who looks different or turn our nose up to the person who is down on their luck remember it could be you or once was you...step outside of the group or at least get your GROUP to continue to be individuals and respect others who choose to do just that.

LIVE....love....Laugh

2 comments: