A few weeks ago, someone told me that I was too preppy to be considered hipster. I guess my monogrammed clothing and sass overpowered my efforts to be the cool hipster I thought I was. In today’s society, there’s an emerging trend to be the creative outdoorsy person who listens to underground music and is too cool for mainstream trends, ironically enough. Things like Pinterest crafts and Urban Outfitters have propelled this trend, and I am among those who have fallen victim to its allure. In digesting the accusation of my failed efforts to fit in with the hip trend, I've recapped these ways in which I tried to embrace my inner hipster.
Yoga.
I've always appreciated yoga as a form of exercise and relaxation and kept my purple mat proudly on display, but never used it. However, this semester I signed up for a month of unlimited yoga classes, bought new leggings and shirts, and attending some classes to validate what I've been advertising. The best feeling is walking to class with a mat in hand because it just appears that I have my life together.
Hammocks.
Nothing says outdoorsy and earthy like literally laying in trees. I proudly own an off-brand blue hammock that hangs a few inches off of the ground in the tree in our front yard. My Instagram suggests that I've taken it to exotic places, yet I find that I can check "nature-lover" off of my wannabe hipster checklist by staying home.
Clothes.
Bonus hippie points for every pair of sandals, Chacos, or Birkenstocks. These shoes effortlessly say that I'm pretty down to earth, yet care about what I put on every morning. Because I wouldn't spend $100 on sandals to look completely homeless, just borderline homely.
Music.
A person's true character only shows in their Spotify playlists. Are you secretly a wild child? Are you stuck in the early 2000s? Or, best of all, do you scour blogs across the Internet to find a fine selection of moody tunes sung by starving artists? If you haven't listened to a song on the radio, only to discover that you'd listened to it two years ago before it was famous, are you really a hipster?
So to my kindhearted, lovely roommate: I embrace my wanna-be hipster. But at the same time, I embrace that I don't neatly fit into any one genre of style. Somedays I'll sport the sassy pops of color in my statement necklaces and sing Taylor Swift, and other days I'll lay in my hammock and scour Spotify for the next big thing. I encourage you to not fit into any category or stereotype. Create your own.
