“MY MENTALITY”
Olivia O’Brien “I Don’t Exist”
Olivia O’Brien’s song “I don’t exist” is about not fitting in and feeling like more of an outsider. For me, this is something that I can relate to quite a bit, since that’s how I always felt in middle school and high school. I believe that I felt this way because Minnesota was like living in a little bubble. There wasn’t much diversity in my schools and people could be very judgemental. Today, I have learned to pride myself on accepting everybody no matter what they wear, what they look like, or even how they act. Although I may think that others don’t accept me, as long as one can accept themselves, that is the first step to accepting others. I’d rather have a small community that takes me for who I am, than a large one who are being fake friends and acting like “I don’t exist.”
Imagine Dragons “Zero”
Zero is a newer song of the band Imagine Dragons that was written for the major motion picture Ralph Breaks the Internet. The lyrics in this song are 100 percent relatable to my kind of mindset throughout life. It talks about feeling like a “zero” and not feeling enough, which is something that I struggle with a lot. Within the song, it tells a story of going through a time when you are trying to find self-acceptance and looking for a way out of the negativity. Everybody has there own insecurities in life and mine is the feeling of not being wanted or even accepted. In certain circumstances, I would sometimes be bullied for being overweight, a redhead, or even just people saying that I wasn’t pretty. These harsh words stuck with me throughout life, and ultimately made me realize the empowerment of self-love. If you can accept yourself for who you are, others will too.
Lauren Daigle “You Say”
“I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough.” This first line of the song “You Say” is the way I feel constantly. I believe that I ended up this way, not only because I was bullied as a child, but I was always very hard on myself. In relation to this the article Introducing Identity by David Buckingham talks about “cognitive simplification” or the formation of identity that involves the process of stereotyping and allows people to distinguish easily between self and other as well as define themselves and their group in positive ways. The song also talks about finding your worth and identity through someone else being able to love you wholeheartedly. I can often times find positivity and acceptance in my life when I have the support of friends and family. I know that comparing myself to others may be a bad habit, but it also allows me to define who I am and separate myself from others.
Imagine Dragons “Demons”
Demons by Imagine Dragons is almost like a warning to society and the people in your life to “not get too close, because it’s dark inside.” Many of their songs deals with topics of mental health, such as anxiety and depression. My mental health is something that has changed the way I identify myself. Although not many people know about my struggles with the topic, it is something that I have realized that a lot of people deal with. Even if it may be a setback in my life, there is a community especially on social media, that supports mental health. According to Dustin Kidd from the book Social Media Freaks, project based identities on social media focus on social change projects. There are numerous social media communities that support healthy living with mental issues as well as female embodiment that I often find myself identifying with.
Olivia O’Brien “Love Myself”
Love myself is all about accepting your body, spirit, mind for what it is. I try to tell myself every day that I need to love myself more and more. One of my tattoos, is an Arabic quote that says “love yourself first.” When you can accomplish that, then others will love and accept you as well. A concept called intersectionality is a “sociological theory describing multiple threats of discrimination when an individual’s identities overlap with a number of minority classes.” Within my case here, I am a quarter Lebanese as well as German. My identification with race intersects with the idea of the acceptance of my mental health. I pride myself on being different than others. Though I often get stereotyped for having Arabic words on my arm, since I don’t truly look the part, I am accepting my roots and making it who I am. Learning to love yourself is truly difficult and takes time to fully get to the mental state of loving every inch of who you are.
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