Basic+

I'm basic, and that's okay.

Alright folks, show's over! Gather the props. Roll down the curtains. Let's get outta here!  

...

No, seriously! Leave. There's nothing else for you here. Shoo!

...

...

You're still here, huh?  Well, I guess I could throw you a bone to chew on. Here

Happy?

... No?

.. Finee

This debacle started on my third semester of college. I met a new friend group through a mutual colleague. They were hanging out, talking about random bizarre stuff and it seemed kinda fun so I joined in. One of the members of said friend group was having a heated discussion with one of the lads, and it was very funny to me. I tried chiming in, and- BOOM! The moment I joined that conversation, I was assigned a red target aimed at my head. The conversation rapidly divulged into what I understood as a series of personal attacks. I don't remember what I said, but I remember what the girl called me afterwards. She said I was basic. 

Now, I'm not really hot in the insult game. I didn't know how to respond to being called basic, so I kinda just stuttered and fumbled some words. But I remember very clearly how it felt. My chest was a cage around my heart, and that word just kept ringing inside my head like church bells. To say that it was suffocating is an understatement. I've been called many things in my life, basic was a weird one to hear.

Then fast-forward to the 7th semester. I'm, once again, hanging out with a new friend group and I'm making small talk with this guy called "Walid". Him and I were talking about video games and music. Only problem was, this guy was the real deal. I don't know what it takes for anyone to be labelled a fan of something, but I'm assuming it takes a lot of effort to be given that title. (This is gatekeeping.. Enjoy stuff as you wish and ignore "efforts")

Walid played more games than I ever have and he knew more songs that I could ever fathom. He could nail a song down to it's album. Which might not seem so crazy, until you compare it to me. I listen, almost exclusively, to video game soundtracks. I'm not joking.. Here, take a look!

Half of my current playlist.. No, I don't really listen to anything else

 If there's anything else I do listen to, it's like a single droplet of a pick among an ocean of game soundtracks. I was once again called basic, and that one stung more than the first. Being called basic in a social context mattered less to me than being called basic in areas of  personal interest. 

It's fine, though. Just wipe away a tear, shake off any frozen nerves and move on with my life. It's ok to be less interested in stuff than other people. Maybe the things I liked are just not what define me. Maybe I haven't found the thing that speaks to me the most yet.

Unfortunately, wherever I looked, everyone seemed to have their thing. Their character archetype; Their fandom; you name it, really. In a free-for-all of labels and groups, I felt completely stranded. I wasn't anything. I just do different unrelated stuff sometimes. 

Ok.. Well this is a bummer. Where do I go from here?

Nowhere, really. I could either, A, invest more time and effort into a thing until someone else recognizes me as part of that thing.. Or I could, B, accept the fluidity of it.

Either option is fine, really. Being a part of something is one of the greatest things to ever experience. I mean, I once joined a cult and it was fun as hell! (More on that later). But, being the way I am isn't half bad. 

I'm not some catchy witty one-liner on a bio. I'm not a mastermind. Not an intellectual either, I just think a lot. Which isn't really that special. Most of us live in our heads.

I don't have a refined taste in music. (Or a taste-bud for that matter) I like games with a good story, and I read random genres for fun. I'm not a dedicated anything. "Kind of a Jack of all trades, master of none" situation, except I'm no jack. I'm more of a 4 of clubs. 

I enjoy some things that could be mainstream, and other things that could be a little niche. And the things I do enjoy don't have to be necessarily correlated to one another. The one thing they do correlate to, is me. Sometimes the things I like will help me to connect with others, but I will still be different, and that's fine.

Wherever I go, I will meet someone who has either done more or knows more than I do. Or maybe it'll be the other way around. Wherever I go, I will be different. So will you.

And I'm not talking Movie-esque Main-Protagonist different. I'm talking about the type of different where you start a conversation with someone and they info-dump on you because you don't know that much about the thing you talked about. That's alright though, sharing information is what conversation is about, after all.

I'm basic and I carry my basicness with pride. 

Cheers, 

Salman