Full disclosure: I have no idea whether saying ‘swag’ is a thing anymore... but I’m guessing it’s not. However, I’m rather certain, that since you’re here, the title grabbed your attention enough to for you to click it. So, swag is still relevant and should be. Keep reading.

In spite of the Urban Dictionary's users' animosity against the word due to its over use, ‘swag’ is a necessary noun. Its synonyms, like 'gait', 'style', or 'appearance', simply don’t capture the nuance that swag does. Originally, the word meant to “move heavily or unsteadily.” Now, at least in colloquial conversation, swag still does include the way a person moves and carries themselves, but it also has to do with appearance, and how one uses their personality and confidence to enhance their appearance. To me, swag is a person’s ability to blend all of the inspiration absorbed from the styles, trends, and cultures that he or she admires, combine them into new colors, and create a masterpiece out of that. It’s in the way you cook your food, choose your outfits, wear your clothes, dance, and even walk down the street. That’s probably why a couple years ago all the kids were saying “Swag” every time they did something: they were conjuring the spirit of Swagginess in to sprinkle their daily activities with swag.

Swag, or our lack there of, is a reflection of our security within ourselves.

Honestly, I’m still trying to catch my swag, or even figure out what it is. Do I got the veganurbanchick swag? The prettynerd swag? The artsytreehugger swag? I laugh at myself as I write this… but because I constantly reflect on the impression I make on people, I recently found myself thinking about the word swag. I found that there are 5 swag blockers: 5 behaviors that prevent us from catching our swag:

1. Indecision: For me, this behavior easiest to notice on nights out. I can’t decide what to wear, I can’t decide where I want to go… honestly I can’t decide if I want to even go anywhere in the first place. Indecision is rooted in a lack of trust in oneself. For example, I may be undecided about going out because I’m juggling fear-of-missing-out in one hand, and the comfort of my bed and a book in another. If one of the options in your decision is based on any fear, or its cousins worry and anxiety, than that is not the choice for you. When any choice I make is based off of self love and genuine care for others, it’s a good choice, and wins me swag points (in my book at least).
2. Second guessing: Second guessing goes right along with indecision. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get caught on the “what if...?” merry-go-round, so stop giving yourself that option. Trust yourself enough to know that your instinctual, gut choice, was your best choice. Our logical brains get in the way of our creativity too much..and creativity is a key causal factor of one’s swag.
3. Imitation: Imitation, to me, happens either due to a lack of creativity, an inability to create, a stifling of creativity, or all of the above. Since when was being ourselves not the way to be? Society would have us ALL believe we’re not good enough the way we are: no wonder we are so screwed up generally, and in our creativity specifically. We’ve all done it, “well maybe if I was like her, or her, or him then...” Later, little do we know that we end up copying their swag, either on an unconscious level, or outright, and that’s corny.
4. Jealousy: Jealousy stems from the belief that we are not good enough the way we are. Actually, we are necessary. It’s cliche, but truly, there will never be another you, so learn to embrace who you are. Start out by focusing on enhancing at least one positive quality, and moving from there. If you can’t figure out one of your attractive qualities yourself, ask someone you care for to help you. I think cultivating swag leads to a snowball effect; once you’re swagged out in one area of your life, you’ll grow your confidence and the swag will begin to influence any other corny areas of your life.
5. Over-sensitivity: When we take offense and/or internalize everything, there is no space for swag. Actually, over-sensitivity and swag can’t coexist. Sometimes I feel like I need a person over my shoulder who pinches me every hour or so and says, “It’s not that serious” or “relax, everything will be fine.” The more relaxed I am, the more the best parts of my personality shine through. I then began to adopt a more positive view of myself, which has an automatic effect on my swag.

Swag is all about letting the real you come out to play, and being very comfortable with that. Some of the people that I think have ultimate levels of swag--Prince, Grace Jones, Nina Simone--I can just tell by watching interviews that they are so absolutely comfortable in their own skin. This let them walk in their swag, which then allowed them to experience world-changing levels of creativity. I think it’s high time push our swag blockers to the side so that our ultimate swagginess can shine through.