Pop culture is not a personality.
It stems from personality, but it does not cause it. Liking something or hating something or “this is me”-ing something does not define who you are. People are more complex than a singular Myspace song or another re-quote of The Office.
I get it—it’s easy to cling to characters like family, to describe yourself with a tv show, to believe what you see on Twitter. The problem, here, is that these tiny shards of media aren’t the whole window. People disappoint, trends end, memes vanish. At the end of the day, we have to deal with things that makeup and fashion and internet quizzes can never beautify. All we’re left with is ourselves.
But of course, there are stories and art and inspiration in popular things. It’s okay to love comic books, to obsess over video games, to dance your heart out to the latest Tik Tok trend. There is community in culture, just not identity. None of these things make you—they’re only products of who you are.
An example: I hopped on the sourdough train at the outset of the pandemic, and it doesn’t make me “the bread girl” or mean that I will make bread for the rest of my life. It does mean that, in this moment, my human self craves fermented goods and creating real things offline. It’s okay for your interests to change as you change.
So today, ask yourself what you want and why you want it. Is it really you, or are you just joining the masses? Are you needing the community that comes with engagement?
Are you coming from a place of integrity?
Next Steps: Drink a glass of water, and since you have so many big questions to answer above I’ll go easy on you today: play folklore because you genuinely, unironically, enjoy it.