Day of Nonconformity

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I wonder if anyone in the world ever wakes up and thinks to themselves, “I don't want to be like everybody else today, I think just for today I’m going to see how it feels to just try being myself instead.” Can you imagine a world like that? An environment where everyone behaved however they wanted to and no one was afraid to act as their individual self’s. Just visualize if everyone lived by their own individual lifestyles and no longer had to conform to anyone else’s rules or beliefs. Unfortunately, that would not be a very stable world to live in. There would be no such thing as nonconformity without conformity. If there were no norms to live by everyone would be different and no one would really fit into any specific groups. Basically, the human race would be lost without anyone to follow. I found this to be quite intriguing, which subsequently made me want to further experiment by participating in my own day of nonconformity. I found my day of nonconformity to be partially interesting and difficult. I found it perplexing to think of new ways to influence myself instead of following in the footsteps of others simply because I’ve been a participant of nonconformity my entire life. From my anti-social behavior to the brushing off of any religious belief that comes my way, nonconforming with society’s norms should be nothing new to me. Nonetheless, this experiment did get quite compelling by assisting me to realize all the norms I usually abide by within my individual lifestyle. In a way, this experiment altered my insight on what it truly means to be yourself.
My day of nonconformity started off pretty serene. On my way to school, I waved at a few people who cut me off that I normally would’ve flipped off. When I finally made...

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...h this experiment, I recognized that conforming to norms by being kind isn’t necessarily letting people step all over you. Additionally, I noticed that being yourself has many downsides when attempting to fit in. Nevertheless, I’m now more fully aware of the importance of being yourself. You never know, someone may actually like you for you really are. After getting involved in this social experiment, I can definitely say from personal experience that it’s easier to play a part in in nonconformity rather than trying to fit in with everyone’s norms. Overall, I conclude that it’s better to just be yourself. A month from now who knows if my behavior will change or if I will continue living authentically, it all depends. You have two choices, be yourself and risk not fitting in or follow everyone else and take a chance of losing your true individual self along the way.

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