So yesterday my boyfriend Aaron sent a name of a songstress he thought I might like. He was right, he knows me well. WELL, that was the beginning of a revelation. So the girl he sent me is named Kate Voegele. [sidebar: her cover of hallelujah is pretty sweet, not quite brooke fraser singing sound of silence, but very nice.] I clicked on this video of her and as I watched her sing and prance around I realized something. EVERY songstress in the indie/acoustic world (and their are many ways to be acoustic) dresses the same! I looked at my sister and I was like "oh my goodness."

v neck tee. check.

necklaces of varying length. check.

long layered hair with swOOping bang. check (the other option is short funky hair)

vest and/or Mr. Roger's,but cool, inspired cardigan. check.

skinny jeans. check.

light make up, emphasis on eyeliner.check.

3-5 cool and jazzy rings, spread over both hands. check

I said all of this outloud and my sister Heather burst out laughing. We both were laughing because it's so true! Then I said: " i am blogging about this!" Before I continue I want to make a disclaimer that I think this style is super cute, absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact I dress like this on occasion..although i have a little too much ba donk a donk for a skinny jean. Really.

I just find it humorous that SO many dress like this. I also find it funny that as I look around PSU I can pick out the girls that want to be there, I would bet money that these girls are way into music and want to BE music.

This whole concept got me thinking about individuality, uniqueness. I think that our American mentality seems to lean toward a desire to be different, new, fresh. You have really arrived when you are doing something nobody else does.(or at least less people do) Trust me, this is not in judgement, I have been there several times. Sheba will appreciate this. I spent a good chunk of my 20th year being unique, hip, cool, trendy. Then I got over myself. Sort of. There are days I am still stuck in that vibe.:) My friends and I may have never said it, scratch that, we did. We thought we were cooler than all these "normals" following what everyone else was doing. I mean c'mon, at least we weren't wearing american eagle and abercrombie, and at least we realized that music and art was better than school!! hahahahahaha. In reality WE were the morons. We were paying a university to skip class and talk about everything that was "cool" in the world. Really, it was just a lot of talk. No regrets though. You live and learn.:) And yeah, I did have a really great time.:)

ANYway. I just want to put it out there that there is VERY few people who are truly "different." First of all, if you were that different you probably wouldn't be that popular. People wouldn't understand you. Second, almost everyone is in some sort of subculture. You may have started out preppy and now think you are different because you are funky, punky, artsy, rocky, etc. And I think that is great, I really do. BUT I guess I want us all to be honest with ourselves. You may have left preppy, but you aren't so different from the prepsters.:) You are just in a different group now.

I don't say all this to judge, truly. In fact, I want us to judge each other less. I think we need to realize that there is nothing wrong with being part of a bigger group. After all, who REALLY wants to be all my themselves? God made us for community! Don't miss out on the bigger community because you are stuck in your "little" community. There are invaluable lessons to be learned from those that are opposite of you.

In closing, all this being said...."Before He formed you in the womb, He knew you." God knew you, still knows you. And yes, there is no one else EXACTLY like you.:)

ps: just for the sake of argument, I am posting some photos of the "songstress" (once again, not hating, they do look good.:)