Self-Expression Is Not a Trend

This week I’ve been reading a lot on self-expression.
 
Who are you? Who am I? How do I express myself?
 
It’s got me (and a few others I’ve been reading) thinking about how Gen Z and younger millennials are obsessed with their self-expression and putting on a “performance”.
 
But is it even real self-expression? Or what we are TOLD and SHOWN? Is it more of a performance?
 
Who’s the most talented? Who looks the best? Who got on that trend first?
 
This self-expression is put on so much to the point that actually no one has any self-expression anymore.
 
Ouch… but what do I mean by that?
 
We are bombarded daily with “look at me, look at me” that we actually have no space to actually look at ourselves. 
 
A new micro-trend everyday… Maybe I should eat like her?...
What’s Zendaya wearing?... I need this… I need that. 
 
Our self-expression is all borrowed from others and from past trends. 
 
Where’s the innovation? The new? The REAL self-expression? 
 
But maybe self-expression is allowed to be a performance? Maybe the performance IS the self-expression? 
 
…
 
I well and truly thought I was past the point in my life of “finding myself” in my mid 20s. 
 
But now, today, we are forever finding ourselves because the world tells us to change so often. 
 
Look, I’m all for self-growth and self-expression. I try to promote it as much as possible.
 
But maybe we are looking in the wrong place for it? 
 
Self-expression isn’t getting a new wardrobe or your hair done. 
 
It’s not jumping on the Y2K trend… because actually that’s not new at all (it’s from the 2000s).
 
It’s not going to be found in that $40 box of matcha someone promotes or that new $800 Balenciaga hat someone said is cool this season. 
 
Yes, this idea was sparked from reading others’ thoughts on self-expression.
 
And inspiration is important and a useful tool in sparking your own ideas. But it’s just that, one tool in your big box of tools. 
 
Where is it then? Where’s my self-expression found? 
 
It’s found in the daily pages you write. The conversations you have where you listen and learn. The empathy you feel when something is wrong. 
 
In the films that make you think for 5 days. The reactions you have to things that upset you. The added weights at the gym. 
 
Self-expression is found in your self-growth. 
 
Finding what you truly love; what makes you happy. What makes you think. What makes the world seem interesting to you because YOU like it. 
 
Not because someone else likes it.
 
Find your ways to express yourself without being obsessed with it.
 
Look inwards and see how things make you feel. Books, movies, conversations, food, everyday things. 
 
Then express that to the world if you want to. Put on YOUR performance. It’s your stage baby. 
 
I like to write because it helps me express myself. It helps me grow and understand myself more and more. 
 
I express it to you because maybe you feel the same way? Or maybe you think I’m an idiot?
 
Either way, this is my true form of self-expression and not everyone will like it. 
 
When you’ve truly found your self-expression, not everyone agrees with you. And that’s your true self-expression performance.
 
So what are you doing today to reignite your self-expression? 
 
XX Penelope