By The Editorial Board
To be cringe is to be free.
Many of us have repeated this to ourselves as we prepare for some sort of perceived public humiliation. Somehow, the most normal actions, interests and enjoyments have been labeled as “cringe.”
While there might be comfort in commonality, there is an equal peace in personal acceptance — something we might all be too afraid to be OK with.
Maybe you giggle at the girl next to you in class wearing bright colors with frills and bows. Of course, you would never wear something like that. Maybe you roll your eyes at the group of guys wrestling each other on Fountain Mall. Whatever you deem to be cringe seems to always appear.
But as you hyperfixate on a stranger’s “cringey” outfit, action or personality, you’ve unwittingly wasted precious seconds of your own day. In the time it takes your brain to formulate a quick opinion on what’s cringe and what’s not, you’ve already missed the funny joke your friend whispered to the group. You’ve missed the first sunny day after a week of gloom, and you’ve spent precious energy worrying more about others than your own life.
How much time do we really waste hyperfixating on others? Far too much, in our opinion. Whatever someone does in our general vicinity, even if it doesn’t involve us in the slightest, it seems we have a predisposition to care.
What gives us the authority to decide what is “cringe”? We cannot possibly consider ourselves so important to be the all-knowing determiners of what is the norm.
We’ve gotten so wrapped up in our perception of others that it’s warped our sense of self. The reason we joke, “to be cringe is to be free,” is simple — it gives us an excuse to be ourselves in a world that is often far too judgmental.
Our individual interests are what make us, well, us. Without the outward expressions of exciting interests we bury out of fear, we become a boring world, devoid of color and, for lack of a better word, whimsy.
A world without a diverse range of interests cannot support the tenacity and intricacies of being human. What makes us so different from AI models and chatbots that rely on others for their information if we cannot form our own interests?
Don’t be afraid to be you. Dance around in public, wear your favorite Broadway musical shirt and tell anyone who listens the science behind NASA’s Artemis II.
People will think whatever they want. Let them. One person’s cringe is another’s passion, and we need more passion in a world that celebrates nonchalance.
Above all, don’t be afraid to enjoy your life. Talk about your interests and let your personality shine through, and perhaps we can make this world a little more accepting, one quirk at a time.
