The trendy rebel. She goes through her day mostly unconscious of the moment but she wears her yoga pants part-time. She doesn't live near a wall and out of a car, but she owns climbing shoes. She doesn't free-style but she will sing along to Notorius B.I.G. unabashedly in the car.
Some of us talk about her, how she's putting her pose pad too close to ours, crowding up the crag, and creating one endless pop song. Some of us ignore her hard; she personifies the fears we can't be with long enough to name. Some of us attempt to master the balance of doing both, photographing and posting how much better we can do that pose, pointing out that we experience “true grade” because we lead instead of top rope, and that we supported that artist before they were available at Starbucks.
She is not a pronoun for a person, so how we think and feel about her says things about ourselves:
how we deal with what is popular not including our full story
what our relationship is with seeking approval and acceptance from others
how we see our uniqueness among the hundreds of thousands of people who live like us
We may have an easier or harder time with our relationship to what is popular based on our appearance, language, etc. We may have an easier or harder time with our identity and its intersection with a wider community based on our values, location, upbringing, etc. Most of us will be inclined to push back some on what is being feed into our lives.
Shake up Systems and Societies
Resist is not a sign you post. Resistance is applying yourself in opposition to the inertia of the status quo, not trying to ride the sexy edges of “exotic” uniqueness. This is not best done by intention or design but by being present and moving to your heart's song. If you do it “right”?
If you do it right...
You “purge yourself before you find fault in others.” Present, you will “be inspired not proud.” You are B.K.S. Iyengar receiving Gold Medals for alternative medicines while prescriptions for painkillers increase by 2 million a year.
If you do it right...
The “most relevant factor in your ability to perform well will come from your love.” You will find “connection to a nonconformist culture” in your own way, only to be measured, compared, and under estimated by conventional culture. You're Lynn Hill pulling on finger tips for a first free ascent that will later be minimized because you were small enough to put those tips in the crack.
If you do it right...
“God is smilin' on you but he's frownin' too because only God knows what you'll go through.” Most people will not understand what you passionately spit but they will re-mix your rhyme. You're Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five changing the pace and topic of hip-hop but being reduced to a chorus of “it's like a jungle sometimes.”
If you do it right....
You will change everything around you but not the world.
You will live a deeply joyful life but not an easy one.
You will feel whole and fulfilled but you will often stand alone.
We often try to leave an impression, a sense that an “I” could be somewhat known, seen and embraced. To do that you most be your authentic self. Not just the parts of you that will be immediately accepted by others. Be the unique expression of your highest self-from the parts that seem typically human and cliché to the parts that dare to shake it all up. Whether thousands of people immediately 'like' your post or no one, truly show up. You will use your agency for what matters most.
May you breath, rise, and rhythmically spit your truth <3