hipsters and the meaning of life

Let me be perfectly clear. Stereotypes are never okay.

People are people. Individuals. Each and every one. That being said, I do classify some people as hipsters, nerds, jocks, etc. But that is only because those individuals are trying to fit into that clique, whether consciously or not. I think people rarely try to fit into a particular stereotype, but they still do it. Everyone longs to be accepted. Humans are social beings, or so I've heard. And if you go completely off the wall and break all of the social norms, you won't have any friends. Or you'll have really eccentric friends. It all comes down to culture and preferences. Some people prefer a certain type of clothes. Some people prefer certain foods. Hobbies. Religions.

Let me talk about myself for a moment. I have been labeled a hipster by several people. Sometimes it's a compliment, other times an insult. I take it as a compliment however, because I personally enjoy the hipster style. I think hipsters (as defined by the stereotype) are well dressed. Cool. But I strongly dislike the stereotypical hipster attitude.

Hipsters are labeled as these people that shop at thrift stores, drink coffee, don't eat meat, wear big glasses, listen to indie music for the sake of being indie, do yoga, meditate, etc. I do a lot of these things, but not to be a hipster. A word of advice toward anyone that wants to be a hipster: don't try to be a label. I shop at thrift stores because those are the only places to get vinyl, cassettes, VHS, and flannel shirts for a decent price. I don't drink coffee because I want the blessings in the word of wisdom (LDS Doctrine and Covenants Section 89), and I wouldn't be able to afford the addiction anyway. I have also heard that the working conditions for the people harvesting the coffee beans are inhumane. I don't eat meat because: 1) I think eating muscles is gross. 2) I believe in the sanctity of all life. Everything has a spirit. Daniel didn't eat meat. Thou shalt not kill. Things like that. I wear big glasses because I like big glasses. My preference for big glasses will probably change over the years. I listen to "Indie" music because I enjoy indie music. It just always seem to be better than mainstream music. However the music I listen to is becoming progressively prevalent in the hipster crowd, so I suppose it could be considered mainstream amongst hipsters. I also like listening to music that nobody else does because I can connect to it without having anybody else give their input on it and ruin the magic of the music for me. Now let me address the whole vinyl, VHS, and flannel thing. I like vinyl. Not because of the sound. I really don't like listening to vinyl. But I like the really big pictures. It's like a painting that I can listen to. The vinyl itself looks really cool too. The grooves are very pretty. Owning vinyl makes me feel a connection to a time long past that I wasn't a part of. It's like a little piece of history, which I love! I like VHS because it has nice memories associated with it. The sound of the tape being loaded reminds me of when I was a kid. It's nostalgic for me. Plus, I'm a firm believer in physical media. CD's, DVD's, whatever you like. I love it. There is something special about holding the music in your hand. Seeing it in your iTunes window is just boring to me. It loses its magic. I am trying to do yoga more often to improve my circulation and posture. I want to meditate because I have an irrational idea that meditation can give me some kind of insight into the human condition. Some kind of meaning to life.

You would think that being Christian would eliminate this need for answers, but it doesn't. I'm sure it helps, but when I don't hold anything back, and ask the tough questions that I doubt can be answers in this life, I feel very small. Such as, "What is the meaning of life?" A commonly asked question. Many people have many answers. There is no purpose. I don't need a purpose to be happy. The purpose is to be tested and tried for sins. But that's not my question. What is the meaning of life? Including the afterlife. Men are that they might have joy. Is that the only thing? To be happy? So, in the mortal life we are supposed to follow the commandments. Avoid sin. Love God. Why? Who decided what sin was? Did God? Where did God get his power from? Commanding creatures that you made to love you or live in hell for all eternity seems a little insecure to me. I know this is blasphemous to talk about, but these are the honest questions in my heart. I know I'm lacking some crucial piece of knowledge that I probably won't acquire in this life, but I really hope that that doesn't affect my application to heaven. I can't help but wonder: is God perfect? I know he knows everything, but does he make the right choices based on his knowledge? Those are completely different things. This is a real question to anyone reading, not rhetorical: Does God ever claim to be perfect? Or do humans label God as perfect because they need Him to be perfect? I know Joseph Smith once said something along these lines... "As man is, God once was. As God is, man can become." I could be interpreting this completely wrong but this makes me wonder: Is our God not the one true God? Or is God a man that was on a world like Earth that passed his God's test and was then allowed to create his own Universe which he could then rule over and ask his creations to love him? I can't help but feel like there is some bigger picture than just the premortal life, mortal life, and the afterlife. How long was the premortal life? Forever? For God maybe, but if he created me, then I have a beginning. Mortal life is preparatory. But for what? The afterlife? What is the afterlife, and how long does it last? Paradise or Prison, and forever. But there have got to be more trials in the afterlife, or the afterlife wouldn't be very lively. Is perfection really attainable? If so, what is perfection? I think it is an unrealistic concept. Everybody has their own idea of perfect, so therefore, perfection is many things. But perfection in and of itself means flawless. But who decides what flaws are? Maybe I like some things that others may consider flaws. Therefore the only way for perfection to be attainable is for everyone to have the same concept of what a flaw is, which leads to a very boring, static civilization. I need some contention in my life to have purpose. I need to be a little different to be happy. If perfection is a place where there is no contention, and no diversity, maybe I don't want to be perfect.

That took a turn. Sorry about that. No I'm not. Those are the questions that define me. If that makes me a bad Mormon, or a bad Christian, so be it. Ask and ye shall receive right? I'm asking. I'm not expecting to receive, but i'd definitely appreciate it.

Back to the hipster thing. Seems a little trivial to talk about now, but i'm going to anyway, because I care about it.

I believe that everybody is unique. Some less than others, but what can you do? But as humans we like to find patterns. So some people fit into stereotypical patterns. But that causes a lot of judgement. It really hurts my feelings when I am accused of being a hipster for the sake of being different, as if that's a bad thing. Everybody wants to be different. But at the same time, everybody wants to fit in. Different, but not too different. And everybody is different! It's impossible to be exactly the same as somebody else, because of the laws of physics. Even if you had the exact same genes as somebody, with the same clothes, hair, face, you couldn't occupy the same space at the same time, and that is different. So why is it so frowned upon to try to be different? What's wrong with trying to be an individual? Trying to discover something that nobody else has before. Discover something about the world that nobody has noticed. Discover something about yourself that nobody has pointed out. I encourage exploration. It makes things interesting. The likelihood that I will discover something that nobody on the planet has discovered before, or even thought of before, is slim to none. But the likelihood that I'll discover something that I haven't discovered before is 100%. I guarantee that I will always be learning something new. There is no way that I can run out of things to learn. It's impossible with the brain designed like it is.

In conclusion, be yourself. Or be somebody else if you want. I don't like the quote, "Be yourself because everyone else is taken." This makes me feel like I can't be like somebody else. Which is totally wrong! It might be obnoxious to that person, but you are you and you can be who you want to be. If you wake up one day and find yourself to be a hipster, just remember that you're so much more than that.