Here's my hot take on trends. This will come across as controversial, and I fully understand that. I respect other people's opinions about trends 100%, but for me, trends wreak emotional, social, and physical havoc in my life.

Personally, I am at the point in my teenage years where I want to have as little stress and drama as physically possible, but hey, that isn't always the case. In this situation, I can avoid keeping up with trends, and I have stopped for about a year now. The funny thing is that I don’t have social media; I never have. That’s my issue with trends: you can’t escape them; it’s a cultural obsession.

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For me, trends are a set of actions and similar behaviors amongst many different cliques and groups that join people together. Trends eliminate individuality at times; they force teens to want to do things that others are doing, whether or not they are safe or beneficial for them. Trends can be as simple as Hydroflasks making a comeback or as complicated and dangerous as the one-chip challenge, which has taken many young teenagers' lives.

Before I Took a Break From the Trends

VSCO girls was the first real trend that I was introduced to. This was back in middle school, and it was a huge deal. From Hydroflasks and scrunchies to essentially a preppy beach girl.

That was the trend everyone was obsessed with, and since I wanted to fit in, I became obsessed with it too. I begged my parents to buy me scrunchies and Hydroflasks and PopSockets and basically everything that would classify you as a VSCO girl, and they said no. Over and over again.

At this point, I was upset because I really wanted to fit in and to be a part of the “cool” group. The group of kids who had social media and who understood the importance of following trends since that was the whole purpose of middle school. Covid happened not long after that trend came to pass, and I forgot about this trend since I was homeschooled for Covid.

My first Hydroflask I bought for my junior year, and I love it, but not because a trend told me to. I love it because of everything about it and how it encourages me to drink water.

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Once I entered high school I was still partly interested in trends and popularity and that sort of lifestyle, which required you to participate in trends. Wide leg jeans made a comeback, boots in seasons other than winter were a huge deal, mastering the griddy and now having rizz or things like it.

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I would browse YouTube back then simply to keep myself in touch with trends and that was tough because I saw that other people were living a different life than I was. A life that at the time I wanted more than anything. I defined myself based on stupid trends and not being able to partake in them and for some reason that seemed like a death sentence.

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After I Decided Enough Was Enough

Are trends actually bad? Are they secretly controlling our lives? Are the motives and ideas behind trends all bad, or are they deeper than we realize?

Or are they simply pointless? Those were the question I was trying to find out while I rediscovered who I was as a person and what I truly liked. I didn’t just 100% detox from everything; that would be impossible. I would keep myself in “the know.” Which is when you are involved but not involved enough to the point of actually caring immensely. I stopped comparing my life, my body, my relationships, or lack thereof, to other people.

Comparison robs you of joy, and watching videos of people doing trends where you glow up or you kiss your best friend or something along those lines, you automatically start to feel something. It depends on who you are and what your situation is, but most times you feel jealousy or sadness because you long to be like that or you long to have that.

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That is no way to live. I learned to love myself and I realized that I don’t have to know all the trends to have friends or to have a life that I enjoy. I don’t have to live the seemingly perfect life others portray on social media or in real life.

I just have to be happy with myself and my life. I took time to do what I enjoy and I bettered myself because of this time away from trends. I used to worry that my not knowing trends would mean I would have no friends, but now I realize that I have no problem with not knowing. I can look at my friends like they have 10 heads and say I have no idea what you’re talking about. Even strangers. I simply don’t care. Not knowing about trends or about what’s going on, on social media is my little quirk and that’s okay. When you have the right friends, they won’t put you down for not being in tune with everything, especially if you simply aren’t interested or if it destroys you. Choose to do what makes you happy and what makes you feel good. It doesn’t haven’t have to be popular.

Being True to You

I like trends when they have good messages; when they empower others to be confident in their own skin. Trends should encourage others to better themselves and others, so when I look at trends now, I look at how sincere and how heartwarming it is. A trend should have a story, that way when it’s over, people still remember how that trend made them feel.

At the end of the day no one can tell you how to be confident in yourself and in who you are, so don’t let trends start. Steer your own ship and choose to be in “the know” about trends, and not overly obsessive about them.