No Direc(onnec)tions

Where would you be if there was nothing in life giving you direction? Literally and figuratively. I’m talking about no street signs or arrows giving directions. I’m talking about the advertisements that fill your head with a creation making you believe that you need to look a certain way. I’m talking about the people that make you feel that you have to hold a certain job title to have a certain status. I’m talking about brands that make us feel a certain way about ourselves just because we bought from their store. What if none of these things existed?

Of course, sometimes these directions make life flow easier, in regards to traffic and transport. Sometimes this guidance may help us reduce the time in which it would take to get things done. Sometimes putting on a certain brand is the small pick me up that we needed for the day. All of these things are fine, but how many things have we missed out on or how many times have we wanted to pursue a different route? We shied away from these things because all of the signals are going the opposite direction.

How did they know where you wanted to go?

They don’t know what you’re capable of, what you’re good at, what makes you feel free, how you can help. Why follow the signs one way when our feet are faced in a different direction? It’s easy to turn our head while walking another way. We love to look, but we need to focus on what is ahead. If we don’t like what is ahead then instead of turning our heads, we should turn our feet.

I’m tired of living in a world that is developing and evolving at a rate that can’t be researched to actually know the effects of all the technological advances. We are thriving and we love these advancements, but at the same time, we are ruining ourselves. Self love and self confidence seems to be harder and harder to come by the more we put these social media apps out in the world so that people can judge other people. Essentially we have developed a system that rates people based on their location, number of friends, and what they look like.

We try to be judge free, but we are constantly hit in the face with pictures of people and it’s in our nature to automatically form an opinion of the person. I don’t know how many times I’ve stalked a person’s Facebook before meeting them in real life which is terrible. I already formed an opinion about a person I never met and had no social interaction with them, yet I already feel a certain way. Why have we made this okay?

Anyways enough about social media and technology, I already talk about that enough.

I guess all I’m trying to say is that I want people to become more aware of the directions they are taking and signals they are following unconsciously. Why do you do what you do? Are you following a path? Is your head turned the same way as your feet? Maybe it’s time to switch it up a little even if you still want to get to the same destination.

I’ve been loving finding myself, focusing on where my feet are, and going after the things that matter most to me. Sometimes saying no is hard and more often than not I find that my beliefs and the way I want to live make it hard to function in a society that lives on deadlines. I’m getting closer though and the more I push the boundaries, the more they will start to bend. One day, I’ll break through.

Keep pushing, start bending, and soon life will reform.