I'm getting bored with hearing people repeat the same grade-school jargon over and over again. "Be an individual! Think for yourself! Don't let others tell you how to act!" Thank you, little sir echo. I've had enough of this tomfoolery, and in response, I shall be opinionated about the subject.

Individualism is fine and dandy. I don't mind it. I enjoy being a seperate entity from my friends and family and acquaintances, with seperate characteristics and seperate habits and thought processes. And I notice that other people enjoy being individuals too, with blue mohawks and stripey shirts and carrying around dolls. Besides the fact that dressing different to be different is about the most retarded way I can think of to try and prove that you're different (that's a whole other tangent), I fully support self-expression, even if I don't agree with carrying around dolls and dressing like you're still a little girl, because it reeks of immaturity and obstinance at growing up (which, by the way, is a good and necessary thing).

However, when people start whining to me that "oh, everybody is always forcing their opinions on me about how I act" then I have no sympathy. Empathy, maybe a little, but I'll keep it quiet.

Look, humans are by our very nature herd-based and socially-driven animals. Without other humans around, most of us go batshit insane. I don't mean for a few days at a time. If we're isolated for weeks or months or years, we get fucked up. That's why solitary isolation is such a punishment in prison, adding to the fact that it introduces claustrophobia into the equation. Without other humans around to keep us in check, we lose important developments we should have had. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for my friend Nick, who outside of my parents, was the person who most influenced me to continue reading books and playing music. He told me point blank that it was stupid not to, and I listened to him because I wanted to have things to talk about with him. I have grown as a better person because of it, and all because I let someone else influence who I was.

Conversely, I have another friend (I won't name names, but he knows who he is) who grew up secluded and cut off from regular people as a loner, whose family didn't really pay attention to him at all after his little brother was born. The consequences of not having anyone to guide and mold him throughout his latter years of being a teenager have had dire repercussions. He has missed out on discovering many social graces, and cannot deal very well with group situations. He also is depressed, partly because he has few actual friends to now gain back these social graces with (though, he's improving expontentially since I started hanging out with him (I'm so modest)).

What did I need when Nick told me to shut up and start reading? I didn't need self-discovery. I knew who I was, I just wanted to read and Nick wanted me to read more, and so I read more, and I improved because of it.

What does my other friend need? Does he need self-discovery? Does he need to take a step back and look at his own life to decide what's best for him next? Maybe in some cases, but socially, no. He needs outside influences to help him grow as a person in our society. Like it or not, we have unspoken rules in Western Canada about what is appropriate and what isn't. You don't catch on to these things unless you're around other people and you watch and listen what they do and say. If you miss the boat, everybody will laugh at you as you flounder in the shallows.

And that is my diatrybe on individualism. It's not really individualism I'm talking about, but sheltering oneself from outside influence. Outside influence is good. It's necessary. And if you ever get a job, then hell, you'd better be prepared to change your entire persona to suit your boss's mood.