Australians have the worst case of tall poppy syndrome I have ever seen.
If something or someone is popular, suddenly successful or gets too “big” we are the first to cut them down, and straight away. We are not a nation known for standing up and saying wow that’s really awesome, or they’re really talented. Don’t get me wrong, some of us happily will, but secretly and quietly behind Facebook shares and closed doors (just in case someone hears us being too passionate). It brings laid back to a whole new level.
This is fine, I don’t expect everyone wears their heart on their sleeve (certainly not as much as I do) – but by the same token then, if you don’t want to stand up for who/what you believe in, fine, but you don’t then get to pay out on everything either.
I have noticed this applies in particular to the music industry of today. You’re not ‘hipster’ if you actually like something. It’s much cooler NOT to like that song/band/genre. When did this happen?
People now are very hesitant to voice their own opinions when it comes to music, as it might not be seen as ‘accepted’. This is what irritates me most of all. If you truly love a singer, band, label, actor, restaurant, bar, movie, person – then say so. This goes for dating as well. Mean what you say and say what you mean. Don’t follow the crowd and don’t lead people on. Not cool.
Don’t automatically conform to whatever the majority around you ‘currently’ thinks. Usually there will always be one hater which is fine, but the rest are just a bunch of sheep following said hater. These are the people I can’t stand. You all know one. At least the hater is staying true to himself! Chances are these sheep will change their hipster minds next week and decide it's ‘vintage’ now.
If you truly appreciate music, ALL music, then you will not give up on your favourite band just because they put out an ‘alternative’ album, or they accidentally made a ‘popular’ song which heaven forbid the radio picked up.
And you won’t be afraid to stand up for what you love. Whether it's for music, ideas or people.
I think we could all stand to be a little more loyal to what we truly love instead of hash-tagging the shit out of what’s deemed to be cool at the minute. My personal favourite is this craze of 'health' hash tags. Because, you can’t just be healthy and get on with life. No, you need to Instagram your hipster breakfast to prove to the word you’ve had an organic post work out breakfast. See below hipster reference:
To me, it seems like people spend more time getting the right filter on their pictures of running instead of actually running. Stop. Just shut up and run. And make your Spotify playlist you listened to whilst running, public, I dare you. Be proud that you just busted out 5kms to Katie Perry.
(And don’t cut that tall poppy down, that chick belts out some power ballads)