Being the Devil's Advocate
While talking to a friend earlier this evening about the nature of relationships, and interactions between people online, I started thinking about the lines that divide peopleand how commonly I find myself camping out on that line, which probably drives those that know me insane.
I guess the easiest way to illustrate the thought would be to point the finger at a particular person or situation from the recent pastbut there's really no need, because an entire platform exists where extremes of personality mixoften resulting in perhaps the most unpredictable and entertaining content on the internet as we know it. It's called Tumblr.
When somebody posts “challenging” photos of themself, while some may label them slutty, or attention seeking, I tend to see confidence, bravery, ferocity, beauty, and honesty.
When somebody posts difficultviews about a subject, while some may label them controversial, or argumentative, I tend to see balance, diversity, and originality.
It's a difficult line to sit on. Especially given the first group, who tend to attract so much attentionperhaps because at heart, beneath the veneer of education and culture, we are all essentially animals, pre-programmed to notice physical attributes. Some of us fight it, and some of us bury it, but some of us have no such filters. I envy those people.
I wish I could tell so many people that the window they have opened to themselves through the moments they sharethe photos, the storieshave made me wish they were somehow a part of my life. And yet I do not, because convention dictates that we behave in a certain waythat we admire but say nothingthat we bury those thoughts and feelings deep, and that we deride those that do.