We love to put labels on any and everything we can, including people. We love to stereotype, categorize and put people into boxes based on superficial surface characteristics. Last weekend at our annual Your School Your City concert, I was reminded of these labels during a Judah and The Lion song, “Somewhere In Between.” With lyrics like, “I ain’t no hipster, I ain’t no redneck, I guess I lie somewhere in between.” The song goes on to explain how it’s OK not to fit in one category or another. As long as you’re being true to yourself, that’s what matters. I think we could all learn a lesson or two from this song.

We have been socialized to believe that we need to fit into one particular box in order find our place in society. We try to put a definite label on everything from our personalities to our clothing choices. We take the Myers-Briggs test and confine ourselves to four insignificant letters. Though they may be insightful into some aspects of ourselves, we let them define us and everything we do. You can hardly have a conversation with someone in my generation nowadays without them bringing up their Myers-Briggs letters or if they’re an introvert or an extrovert. It’s become popular to define ourselves by our social natures. Personally, I fall between several of the types. During some phases in my life, I have been introverted while at others I have been an extroverted social butterfly. I read article after article describing the different types, and it often feels like I'm a different type each time. Some days I feel like a textbook ISFP; others I feel like I'm for sure an ENFJ. For the sake of ease, I wish that I was one type all the time, but when I sit down and put some thought into it, I realize that I'm all the more interesting because I don't fit into one personality type all of the time.

The defining of ourselves also comes into play in fashion. There isn’t a single back-to-school edition of any teen-geared magazine that doesn’t have a spread devoted to looks for different personalities: “preppy,” “boho chic,” “edgy,” “trendy,” “beach babe.” There’s advice in abundance on how to dress for each category, and it’s frowned upon if you want to wear clothes in more than one. I saw this in my own life when talking to one of my roommates this week. She was lamenting about how some days she feels very “hippy” and some days she wants to dress preppy, and how she wishes she could just be one or the other without the constant ebb and flow. I know I’ve come across this struggle when looking through my own closet as well. I often feel so pressured to dress in one way or another in order to fit into a specific category.

I think we need to stop being so label concerned, and instead just be the best and happiest version of ourselves. If wearing a leather jacket one day and a pencil skirt the next makes you happy, then go for it. If you want to stay in and watch Netflix on Friday but go out dancing on Saturday, then so be it. We should do what makes us happy, not what makes us fit into a social box. Forget introverted or extroverted, ISFP or ENTJ, preppy or boho; it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. At the end of the day, if you’re happy, that’s all that matters, regardless of social polarization. Like Judah and The Lion says, “I guess we lie somewhere in between.”