Here I am in bed, on my trusty Macbook Pro (MAC > PC) at 2:33am. Why? I just felt the need to write. In case anyone was wondering, nothing has changed since my previous entries and that's still how I feel. I've been having a fairly comfortable break from the hectic schedule of uni by keeping to myself and being typically 'hermit-ish.'
Tonight's entry is sparked by something an acquaintance said. This person is not a close friend. We met through a mutual friend. We have been talking a lot lately compared to how much we have been during our two year acquaintance. Anyway, I recently noticed how much this person obeys the orders of others. By this I don't mean when someone asks them to get them a drink or drive them somewhere. I'm talking about how to think, who they're allowed to talk to, what music they listen to, etc. which is not usually something that should be defined by others. For example, I asked them if they listened to a particular band and they replied saying, 'No, because so-and-so refuses to give me that band's albums.' On another occasion, they met someone at a gathering and was 'interested' in them. They were later told that they shouldn't get to know this person better with no given reason and they obeyed. This really got me thinking... because this particular person is just so nice, funny, easy-going and awesome, it seemed odd that they had this (for lack of a better word) flaw in their personality.
I started thinking about how we're unknowingly forced to follow the demands and live upto the expectations of society and our peers. I studied a subject at uni last semester called 'Introduction to Political Ideas' that detailed many schools of thought and their application to politics. The schools of thought studied included: communism, socialism, ecologism, liberalism, marxism, anarchism, nationalism and feminism. Even though I studied their ways of thinking, I never really saw myself leaning towards one more than another. Some days I would feel more like a feminist, others an ecologist. It wasn't until that acquaintance made those comments that I realised how much of a liberalist I am. Liberalists believe that in order to reach one's potential, one should be free from the expectations of the government and society. Just because one person's way of life works for them doesn't mean that it will work for everyone else. By conforming to the path that society paves for us, we cannot fully develop our minds and think 'outside the box' to reach our full potential. While liberalists think that the government should be feared because they exercise too much control over the masses because of all the laws that put in place, your peers are even more dangerous because humans usually have an innate need to be accepted. In order to be accepted into a group of friends or even society, you have to conform. You must dress a certain way, think a certain way, behave a certain way. This limits your personal development. By succumbing to your need of being accepted, you are unable to become who you truly want to be.
I always try to suppress a laugh when I see someone copying someone else in order to be friends with them. The worst reason to do or not do something is because of what someone else will think. It's the same thing when it comes to opinions. I will conclude tonight's entry with a quote from a song by a band called 'The Rocket Summer:'
"Do you even know what you're even saying? Or are you just saying it because someone else said it?"
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