Now that we've become so wrapped up in figuring out how to make rejecting vulnerability look cool, we've forgotten how poor choices in friendships and relationships carry us further away from actual growth. As much as young people are full of innovation and intellect, we're also very easily influenced. The more we see the glorification of disregarding the consequences of our actions, the more of a trend it becomes. We've conditioned ourselves through bad experiences to believe that it is actually a good thing to be irrational; that somehow self-gratification is a reward best received through hurting others. Then, we slapped a label on it and sported it like a gold star: savage.
Photo: Giphy
It's not easy being anybody's friend or lover, especially considering there's so much effort just to maintain a bond between two personalities. Some connections solidify immediately, while others take time to grow and develop. From my perspective, these things make us better people—whether they contribute more happiness than pain, or vice versa.
Being a savage is like a toxic mix of a huge ego and lots of pride. Savage culture perpetuates desensitization to human emotions, something we shouldn't feel ashamed about showing.
We stump our own growth when we try being savage for all the wrong reasons, like for the sake of being petty or vengeful to spite an ex or an old friend. Savages are typically neither proactive nor solution-oriented, but would rather make excuses for why they choose not to. They're also severely incapable of seeing things outside of their own POV simply because they'll believe whatever benefits them. A savage will create a narrative to justify his or her incapability to be reasonable.
Underneath this, obviously, is hurt. Understanding this may only be half the battle when trying to reason with a savage, as the other half is their own will to open up. Vulnerability is so closely associated with defeat or weakness that we never push ourselves to see how exactly we can progress. Hurt is something we should learn to cope with sans destructive mentalities.
Although being super emotional can also be equally unappealing, we should all understand that showing our emotions, and being completely closed off from them, has become such mutually exclusive practices for some, that they're unable to find a happy medium. It's come to the point where it's obvious that it takes maturity to see how uncool it is to be a savage. We should all grow up at some point.
Misery may love company, but misery doesn't deserve it. Holding grudges and internalizing pain is not conducive to growth. Let that hurt go.
