Welcome to Shameless, an insightful blog written by me, Sara, where I will Shamelessly inform you on what it is like to be completely and totally average. Yeah, I know your excited. You may or may not relate to my story, though I hope everyone can find something in common with my tragic tale, but I hope you will all leave smiling. Now's the part where I give you some background.
I am sixteen and attend a truly average highschool in a truly average town filled with truly average people. My town isn't small, and it isn't big. I may run into someone I know at the name brand supermarket, but I don't know the names of every person who walks by on the street. Not that anyone walks. I live in the heart of suburban life. I don't mean the type of suburbia where every house looks the same and every family owns a mini van. I mean the kind of suburbia where every other car is a honda and every man and woman works in an office. The kind of suburbia where there are hundreds of Starbucks but not one place to go on a Saturday night. The kind of surburbia where even teens who just walked out of the DMV have their own cars because walking anywhere would be a complete waste of time. Here, everyone either was born in town or moved from an even more average town down the highway and hour or two. They all work office jobs with average incomes. Men come home, kiss the wife, and jump on the couch. Women cook dinner and run the kids to soccer games or their friend's house. Kids find new online games to play and teens find new places to get high. Welcome to Suburbia.
This is the town in which I was raised. Everyday I come home, eat, procrastinate homework, stare at Facebook, and pretend that the thoughts in my head are totally average.
When living in Suburbia, teenagers develop some odd habits. We spend so much time trying to stand out, that being Interesting becomes average. An Interesting person in my highschool has a very specific definition. The person must be mysterious. If people think you have secrets, you automatically become engaging and exciting to be around. The person must have a passion for music. This means you must have a thorough catalog of music that no one else has heard of. You aren't an expert until you have the experience of asking someone if they have heard a certain song and watch their horrified expression as they flip through their internal catalog and realize they have never even heard of the band before. The person must also be a natural photographer. You can not be truly Interesting until your photoshopped picture of a retro stereo has at least 30 likes on Facebook. The person must also have a deep level of intelligence. This can be achieved by posting a passionate quote you spent an hour searching for online as your status each day. Follow these simple steps and you too can be Interesting.
Except it's never that simple. No matter how many bands you listen to or pictures you post, there is a certain standard of behavior that you have to achieve to be truly Interesting. And it's not a quality that anyone can be taught. That's where I fall into the equation, or I should say, where I don't fit into the equation. Most people can find some level of balance in high school. Whether it's with the nerds, or the freaks, or the populars, or just with a fun group of friends that you trust. But, there are a select few of us who simply don't fit. Like puzzle pieces in the wrong box, we are forever condemned to sit by on the sidelines and watch the pieces fit together, knowing we will always be the outliers.
If I were a piece to another puzzle, I'd look like a pretty damn average piece. Black lines and neutral background. Nothing worth taking another look at.
Being average has it's perks though. It makes it possible to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. See things for what they really are.
And then share it with you all. Shamelessly exposed for the world's judgement.
Welcome to Shameless.
-Sara
