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Individuality

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By Katelyn Ohashi


I  was recently inspired by Oscar Wilde’s, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism”.  I encourage you to read this piece because it has definitely given me a different perspective on the things I do in my life. Individuality is truly a rare thing to come across. For the most part, we are all taught the same way and the same things from a young age so it makes sense, right? This may have always been a concern but I believe now, more so than ever, do we find our self-value in the wrong things.

The age of kids getting iPhones is getting younger and younger. The age we start caring about looks has decreased detrimentally; I see middle school girls putting on makeup, consumed by how they are viewed. As a college student, I see my peers choose their majors based off of what will help them earn a higher income rather than something they genuinely care about and enjoy. I see people who will do anything to get attention from the same or opposite sex, maybe to feel some type of validation.

But when and where did we get this false perception of our worth? Why must we conform to things that society thinks we should be? Our value doesn’t come from what we have or what we do, it comes from who we are. Wilde describes our life like a piece of artwork and like an artist, we are in control of our life. An artist does not try to appeal to an audience or crowd, instead his artwork is solely based off of his interpretation of beauty, pleasing no one but himself. It’s sad how caught up we can become when faced in the reality of others, but unfortunately people are always going to find something to say. What good does it do for us to consume our thoughts with theirs?

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2 Replies to “Individuality”

  1. Hi, I what to first start off by thank you for these posts. I read one or more every time before I go to bed. They give me so much inspiration to get up in the morning and tackle anything that I might be dealing with that day or week. I’m in high school and these post are such an emotional connection to me. I go to golden west high school in Visalia. I’m a Sophomore and I did wrestling and ride horses all my life so the sports posts hit right at home with me. Being 15 and dealing everything like body image, regret, friends and family. Your posts really give me a great escape. UCLA has been a dream school of mine because of the great people that gone there but by reading your post on how people shot for a career with the most money. It showed me that there’s a bigger reward going after your happiness then going after a bigger paycheck every week. It also put a big part into perspective that cal poly is a better choice on what I want to do but I will still have a fight like a Bruin. I have a huge passion for equal rights and women’s protection and love the poem about sexual assault. It’s great to have an awesome strong influence to look up to. Keep doing these because they have been my only escape in a really really long time. Love it

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