Protect What Makes You, You

Every generation goes through some kind of shift that tests who they really are. Right now, ours is this: it's never been easier to see — and copy — everyone else's life.

Our parents only caught trends on TV, which kept them at a distance. Celebrities were far away, harder to study, harder to imitate down to the last detail.

Smartphones erased that distance. Styles go viral overnight, reach more people, and feel more within reach than they did twenty years ago — which somehow makes them even more aspirational, not less.

That's the part I keep noticing this year: how strong the pull is to copy whatever shows up on our screens. Something's shifted in how we relate to the trends and celebrities we follow — myself included — and how easily we let a single visual feed reshape who we are.

We've said before that we're not big believers in chasing every trend — a new phrase, a new hairstyle, a new sport to prove you're current. But it's not only that. I think we're slowly losing the thing that actually shapes us over time: our own experience, our own taste, the meaning we put into the things we choose to use.

Once social media became a way of belonging, we started picking a feed like someone else's, a haircut like someone else's, shoes like someone else's. Inspiration has always existed, and we're more aware of it now than ever — but it's worth asking whether we're using it to grow, or just following because everyone else is.

Protecting what makes you, you starts with putting yourself first. It's fine to admit a purchase isn't for you. It's fine to choose comfort with yourself over keeping up. Not swimming against who you are and who you want to be is its own kind of self-care — caring for your wellbeing with the one person who actually knows you best: you. The goal was never to resist the current all at once. It's to slowly start making your own.

If this reflection resonated with you, keep reading more on the La Casa Gallery blog.