Who gets to decide what cringe is and what’s socially acceptable?
Who’s the person on the hypothetical hill looking down on everyone deciding that short spurts of year-long employment are a “red flag” without having an actual conversation with a candidate (In this economy too!? )?
Why can’t a person wear brunch attire to go out at night? Why is singleness still seen as some fatal flaw that defines a person’s worth?
As a society, why are we such stringent assumption-makers and judges of another person’s character?
And why are we still so scared to be “cringe”?
I’ve been a little cringe my whole life. I might get the occasional “No you’re not” back, but I know I am. I used to want to move with the crowd but I was never meant to. It’s not me, I don’t enjoy a cookie-cutter life. It feels uncomfortable when I’m in it and I become restless.
It often feels like I was surrounded by too much conformity. It’s not a bad thing if that’s what you’re after in life but it’s starting to wear me down. I feel like maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I just don’t fit the way I want to.
I’m not 100% sure what I’m after or who I’m becoming. All I know for sure is that the people I connect with the hardest are those willing to be a little cringe. Because then I feel freer to be me.
Have you ever met a group of people that everyone loves but you can’t seem to get past the surface-level facades? The inauthenticity reeks and it’s loud. The smiles are forced and the laughter comes at the expense of others.
I see it when I go to local stand-up shows in the city. Isn’t the point of humor to find fun in your own lived experiences and self? Humor isn’t “humoring” like it once did.
I suspect as a society we’re finding it harder to be raw and open about the humaneness of life. Because try as we might, being a part of a group doesn’t automatically make you better or worse than anyone else. You have flaws and it HAS to be okay to poke fun at that. Living in a rigid society doesn’t seem enjoyable long term.
That being said, I would love to know who made these rules. “It’s the society we live in.”
Sure…but are we not a part of the society we live in?
Photo by Andrew Boersma on Unsplash