i think it is important to be cringe.
yes, i know, what a ground-breaking thought! there are a ton of youtube video essays that have made this point more eloquently than i am about to, i'm sure. it is something i have been thinking about for a while, and more so since i see a lot of discussion about, performativity and authenticity and it's cooler to be chronically offline now.
i think that there's a heavy emphasis on being very nonchalant, shall we say. everybody is too cool to be vulnerable, to be cringe, to be passionate about something. everything that they like has to be cool but also unique and also normal and also not following the same thing that everyone else is into (like, uhhh, labubus, or something). we are too cool to care and be outspoken about stupid stuff like, uhh, human rights. "it's not that deep", right?
we are too cool to be passionate about the people we love, and to be sincere with them. we are too cool to share a real moment of vulnerability with a friend or a lover, because we're so wrapped up in maintaining our brand as a Cool Guy who doesn't have deep emotions and thoughts. in fact, we are too cool to be romantic at all, in the age of situationships, talking stages, dating apps, etc....
i'm aware i sound like i'm about to say "it's that damn phone yer always on" or something, or that the latest generation is the cause of all the societal rot. i really don't think they are. i think it's a symptom of whatever has been brewing for a while.
i couldn't tell you what that is. it's a lot of things, probably. i am not a sociologist. i'm getting side-tracked! i'm not here to talk about WHY! i am here to say you should be more cringe.
i think it is good for you. to be cringe is to be free, as they say. and i feel like it just sounds like a silly joke. but every time that i make the decision to stop caring about what people think of me and if they think i am cool, i enjoy things way more. i enjoy myself way more. and you can too!
i know that is way easier to say, you should do this, than it is to do it.
but here is the secret: people will like you anyway, for your weirdness. they will actually like you more, and think you are cooler, for not being cool. if they do not enjoy your weirdness, they are still wrapped up in Trying To Be Cool And Nonchalant themselves, and that sounds like a them problem.
i am even feeling a type of way right now about writing this, and having an Opinion. OH GOD, what will people think? it is scary to be vulnerable. but it is the core of being a human. if we are not vulnerable and a little silly, and sincere, then what is the point. in any of it.
i could go back and edit this and make it good and have a real point, and make sure i don't say anything stupid, but then it wouldn't be what i want to say. it's my blog i'll rant how i want to. which is to say, incoherently.
you have to get weirder with it.
04-01-2026