We all want to feel like we belong.
For some people, that entails jumping on the bandwagon and doing what everyone else is doing.
But how far are you willing to go?
There was a time when every kid in my neighborhood played Dungeons & Dragons, which, for the uninitiated was a fantasy role-playing game that was ideal for escapism.
I tried. I wanted to be cool, but I just was not into it. And that was when I realized I don't have to do what everyone else was doing and that marching to the beat of my own drum was much cooler.
Although I lost out on social opportunities with friends, I gained perspective by staying true to my convictions.
I don't knock others for the things they are into – whether it be tattoos or listening to the most commercially successful music group or artist, but I will seek them out on my own terms and not because they are trendy.
Redditor Mobslayer7 asked:
"What's a trend you refuse to get behind?"
Proof Of Philanthropy
"Filming myself doing a good deed."
"I'm not sure why this starting, but personally I find it takes all of the generosity out of the act. Ex. Filming yourself giving a homeless person food."
– ecitruoc
Blowing Up Lips
"Lip injection."
"a-f'king-greed. Your lips have to fit your face. If you have naturally big lips, great! But if you don't, there's nothing wrong with having Tilda Swinton lips."
Time To Shut The "Gate"
"Adding 'gate' to the end of every controversy. It makes no sense!!! It was called the 'Watergate' scandal because that was the name of the hotel that was being broken into. But ever since then...ugh."
Vine Replacement
"Tiktok. (Oddly enough, I miss vine!)"
"TikTok is poisonous."
Hey All You Cool Cats & Kittens
"Watching Tiger King. Still haven't."
"There are no hero's in that show."
Music Video GIFGiphyQuirks
"Purposely going against a trend for the sake of being qUIrkY!! Also hating people for following trends. And writing words in random uppercase and lowercase letters."
– E1lySym
Bringing The Curtain Down
"Cancel culture."
"This guy wants to cancel cancel culture! Let's cancel him!"
The Sweet Stuff
"Smoothie bowls. You're putting fruit on top of your blended fruit??"
"Also, those things are sugar bombs. It's a really weird way to start your morning—I'd crash within an hour."
Cancelling Fashion
"Wearing super expensive, popular clothes or shoes."
"Im part of the age group that does this and i think it is the stupidest thing, more so with shoes and the people who try to keep them clean all the time. Half the time the expensive sh*t dont even look that good."
Kids These Days, I Tell Ya
"Those weird 'emojis' as I'll call them that kids these days are using."
"OwO UwU whatever the hell those stupid ass things are."
"what👋is👋this👋 suppose👋to👋mean???"
"I f'king hate people that do this."
Let's Leave "Karen" Out Of It
"Using the name 'Karen' as an insult. You want to call someone an entitled b*tch, call them an entitled b*tch. Leave poor Karen out of it... none of the 'Karens' I've met were actually named Karen, and all of the people I know named Karen are lovely people... but they can't complain about their name being taken as an insult because to do so would get them immediately labeled as a 'Karen.'"
Political Mockery
"Trump bashing. It seems the thing to do on Reddit, but you will never hear me badmouth that orange, small handed, lift wearing, stroke denying, cheating, fraudulent piece of turd treason scumbag a**hole. Never."
– gozba
Redditor AMGBOI69420 wanted all the men out there to share some necessities, so they asked:
"What are some 'guy secrets' girls don't know about?"
Decisions.
Don't be afraid to make them.
Guys appreciate a decisive nature.
But don't be aggressive.
Thank You...
Episode 5 Thank You GIF by PBSGiphy"We will NEVER forget getting a compliment. I used the same conditioner until it went out of production because someone told me my hair felt soft and smelled nice."
LordSwitchblade
Good Morning
"Sometimes when it's up, it's not because we're horny. But don't let that stop you, Queen."
Spiceinvader1234
"I once had a guy tell me 'If a guy has a morning erection it doesn’t mean you turn him on, he was probably just having a sex dream about someone else.' Ever since then I NEVER try to initiate anything in the morning. Is that true?"
LoisLaneintheRain
"It‘s because the body tests any function while you sleep and most of the time that time you begin to wake up it tests the function to get an erection."
Gennerig_LP
Back Up...
"Nice try honey, I still won’t tell you where I keep my snacks."
XxLongoTxX
"Oh, I found them. Days before I was silently soaking in the glory of my private eye skills while we watched (XYZ) on Netflix, and relishing over the fact that the joys of your deceit will soon evaporate into the void during the exact moment you discover you’ve been left with only the lemon flavored ones."
TheOGPotatoPredator
And you are?
"Dudes can be friends for years and not know each other's real name."
theonetrueemanu
"I've lived in my house for 2 years. I chat with my neighbor just about every day when leaving for work. I didn't want to ask him his name so I looked up the property records to find out that information."
ku_chi_mun_chin
"I worked in a grocery store with a guy who went by his middle name. I went by a nickname completely unrelated to my name. We both found out we didn't know each other's real names until 2 years after we started working together."
Funkeysismychildhood
Breathe
Tuesday Morning Reaction GIF by The Secret Life Of PetsGiphy"That big sigh my wife just asked about while we’re watching the 10 o’clock news? Nothing profound, nothing bugging me, I just remembered to breathe."
Gudakesa
Breathing is everything. It can change every moment.
What Up?
houston rockets yo GIF by TwitterGiphy"We have an entire language around the headnod."
baka2k10
"It’s weirdly sophisticated too. You can actually tell how comfortable guys are around each other based on if they say hello with an up-nod or a down-nod."
Juxta_Lightborne
Fake it until...
"Sometimes, that male confidence that you find attractive is us totally faking it while shaking on the inside, insecure AF."
Ok_Technology390
"I just had this exact conversation with my husband the other day. I was telling him how he seems so confident and I would never guess that he's really nervous or that he's not sure of himself."
"I would've never dreamed he gets all nervous and all that good stuff still to this day with me. I don't feel like it's still sunk in completely bc I was so shocked at how nervous he was explaining he'd get at times lol so props to the guys who fake it til they make it. Keep on bc you're doing a good job 💯."
Exciting-Courage4148
Stay Calm
"We don’t want to tell you certain things are worrying us because we do not want you to worry also… now there are just two people worrying, whereas before, one was worrying, and the other was happy, which is a reminder to us not to worry so much."
Mundane_Tour_3215
"It's a bit different if the person you're telling can do something about the issue, but for something currently unsolvable there's no reason to extend the misery to anyone else."
Zncon
Just say it!
"Please for the love of God let us know if you’re into us. Don’t wait for us to tell you first because we won’t because we don’t want to be called creeps."
Wunderbolts
"My current partner and I used to flirt and talk through text all day, every day for months before I told our best friends. I was so into him, but unsure how he felt. My girlfriend was like: he’s usually just like that; he’s friendly with all of our other friends that are girls and would even ask me if I wanted to stream things with him when [her bf and his best friend] was at work."
"So I put that to rest. But then his friend helped a little bit by interfering and he was nonchalant about his feelings for me to him. When I got the green light I should just do it, I admitted my feelings for him. We’re close to celebrating a year in our LDR. We met in person for the first time a couple of months ago and he’s coming here soon. Best decision of my life to just say how I was feeling."
emeraldpotion
So many secrets.
So many truths.
Lesson? Try not to worry.