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Hey, everyone! It's just me, your resident sleepy college student... y'all can call me Ella. I wouldn't say that I'm special, necessarily- you know, that "one special thing" that everyone has to have? Nah, that's not me. I'm just your average woman from an average town and average background, trying to struggle through an average life. But, I do roleplay. So I guess that makes me special?
Alright, let's go through the checklist, then, shall we?
☒ ellas.asleep = just that. I'm usually studying, in class, working, or asleep. It's usually asleep.
☒ Writing style = generally 3rd person limited, although sometimes I'll write in 1st person. And if you think I can write in 2nd... hahaha, you're hilarious. You should be a comedian.
☒ I'm really bad at replying in a timely manner- i.e., I require a lot of poking and prodding OOC if you want something within even a month. Once again, it's because I'm usually asleep.
☒ What makes me qualified to write? Absolutely nothing. I am a pianist, 3rd degree black belt, tap dancer, tennis player, and avid reader... but not. A writer.
Obviously, I'm always aiming to improve, because if not, what's the point of writing? I'm still in school for a reason. Another added bonus of having me as your writing partner, I'm always up to write just about anything. Except foot fetishes. God, I hate foot fetishes. It's feet!! What did feet ever do to you?!
Alright, let's go through the checklist, then, shall we?
☒ ellas.asleep = just that. I'm usually studying, in class, working, or asleep. It's usually asleep.
☒ Writing style = generally 3rd person limited, although sometimes I'll write in 1st person. And if you think I can write in 2nd... hahaha, you're hilarious. You should be a comedian.
☒ I'm really bad at replying in a timely manner- i.e., I require a lot of poking and prodding OOC if you want something within even a month. Once again, it's because I'm usually asleep.
☒ What makes me qualified to write? Absolutely nothing. I am a pianist, 3rd degree black belt, tap dancer, tennis player, and avid reader... but not. A writer.
Mankind, and Our Hunger for Attention
What is attention? Is it how many likes you get on Instagram? Is it the number of friends you have on Snapchat? Is it the number of people who start copying you after you start wearing a certain style of clothes? Is it the number of people who say "hi" to you in the hallway? The dictionary defines it as 'notice taken of someone or something', but how is it applied in our everyday life? Welcome to the harsh truth of reality- we are all human, and as humans, we crave everyone's attention, whether we consciously recognize it or not.
Walk with me. Build a hallway in your mind. Maybe it's the hallway in your school- maybe it's a fictitious hallway you just created in your mind. It should be empty, just a floor, two walls, and a ceiling. You still with me? Good. Add lockers- rows of lockers lining either end, just an inch or two shorter than the average student… make them any color you want, go ahead and paint them. Got it? Now fill the hallway with students. Lots of them. No, that's too many… what kind of school do you even go to? Just enough so that you can't walk down the hallway without accidentally bumping into someone- yes, that's perfect. Okay, now stand at one end of the hallway. Yes, you- just stand there… just stand there and watch.
Who do you see? Do you see that popular girl, with the perfect eyeliner and the perfectly flat stomach, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she stops by her best friend's locker? No, no, rewind… just a little bit… there! Look at that. Where is she looking? She sure as hell isn't looking at her friend- no, she's looking at the boy standing at his locker across the hallway. Go closer. Don't worry, they can't see you. A little bit closer. Unmute your headphones- what are they saying? She's talking really loud, especially if you're considering that she's standing right next to her friend. Look- the boy turned his head! She was trying to get his attention, wasn't she?
This is what everyone does, even subconsciously. We crave attention, and we will do almost anything to get it. We pretend that there's constantly a spotlight on us, that we're the star in a music video- we like to imagine that everyone's eyes are on us, that our status updates really do matter. In reality, no one really cares. That's because they're all too worried about their own attention-seeking methods and how they will play out; in the grand scheme of things, nothing really matters. Yet, we still choose to believe that it does, which is incredibly fascinating- isn't that the precise definition of insanity? If everyone continues to do something the same way, yet expect different results, it's madness.
There are some out there that will protest- no, they say, I am not a victim of these symptoms. And yet, isn't that an attention-seeker within itself? Trying to stand out, trying to be unique; even thinking those words says that you want attention. Why did you say I, and not generalize the statement to include everyone? You're trying to focus everything on yourself, to make everything about you- and that's where everyone realizes that I, indeed, am right.
We have, undeniably, a unique relationship with attention as students. There are the few of us who are bold enough, confident enough, to lower our guards and take our Instagrams off of private. We publicize everything, just so that we can get more views, get more likes, get more attention. We worry about our clothes, our friends, who's dating who and who hates who. We start drama just so that people can know our names, or we strive to find something that will set us apart from everyone else. There are always the few people who stay in the background and try not to mix in, but they still watch. They still wish that something they do could gain even the smallest glimmer of admiration from anyone.
There's good attention and bad attention, and at this point, we're so desperate that we'll take either. Look at YouTube- stars will start drama with each other just to get more views and more likes, to rile up their respective communities. There are some who try to keep the peace, the calm waters, but they will inevitably fail- because, as much as we crave attention, we are just as eager to give it away.
We fall for the clickbait because we want the titles to be true- we take sides on issues and controversies just to hear our own voices preach about our own sides, not to listen to and support others. When we put our hands up in class, it's to hear ourselves talk and be listened to, not to contribute to the discussion and ignite ideas to further the topic. It's almost disgusting how blatant we are with this, and yet we absolutely refuse to acknowledge it. Maybe even this article itself is a hopeless cry for attention.
But whatever it is, we're all still human. Watch yourselves, kids.
What is attention? Is it how many likes you get on Instagram? Is it the number of friends you have on Snapchat? Is it the number of people who start copying you after you start wearing a certain style of clothes? Is it the number of people who say "hi" to you in the hallway? The dictionary defines it as 'notice taken of someone or something', but how is it applied in our everyday life? Welcome to the harsh truth of reality- we are all human, and as humans, we crave everyone's attention, whether we consciously recognize it or not.
Walk with me. Build a hallway in your mind. Maybe it's the hallway in your school- maybe it's a fictitious hallway you just created in your mind. It should be empty, just a floor, two walls, and a ceiling. You still with me? Good. Add lockers- rows of lockers lining either end, just an inch or two shorter than the average student… make them any color you want, go ahead and paint them. Got it? Now fill the hallway with students. Lots of them. No, that's too many… what kind of school do you even go to? Just enough so that you can't walk down the hallway without accidentally bumping into someone- yes, that's perfect. Okay, now stand at one end of the hallway. Yes, you- just stand there… just stand there and watch.
Who do you see? Do you see that popular girl, with the perfect eyeliner and the perfectly flat stomach, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she stops by her best friend's locker? No, no, rewind… just a little bit… there! Look at that. Where is she looking? She sure as hell isn't looking at her friend- no, she's looking at the boy standing at his locker across the hallway. Go closer. Don't worry, they can't see you. A little bit closer. Unmute your headphones- what are they saying? She's talking really loud, especially if you're considering that she's standing right next to her friend. Look- the boy turned his head! She was trying to get his attention, wasn't she?
This is what everyone does, even subconsciously. We crave attention, and we will do almost anything to get it. We pretend that there's constantly a spotlight on us, that we're the star in a music video- we like to imagine that everyone's eyes are on us, that our status updates really do matter. In reality, no one really cares. That's because they're all too worried about their own attention-seeking methods and how they will play out; in the grand scheme of things, nothing really matters. Yet, we still choose to believe that it does, which is incredibly fascinating- isn't that the precise definition of insanity? If everyone continues to do something the same way, yet expect different results, it's madness.
There are some out there that will protest- no, they say, I am not a victim of these symptoms. And yet, isn't that an attention-seeker within itself? Trying to stand out, trying to be unique; even thinking those words says that you want attention. Why did you say I, and not generalize the statement to include everyone? You're trying to focus everything on yourself, to make everything about you- and that's where everyone realizes that I, indeed, am right.
We have, undeniably, a unique relationship with attention as students. There are the few of us who are bold enough, confident enough, to lower our guards and take our Instagrams off of private. We publicize everything, just so that we can get more views, get more likes, get more attention. We worry about our clothes, our friends, who's dating who and who hates who. We start drama just so that people can know our names, or we strive to find something that will set us apart from everyone else. There are always the few people who stay in the background and try not to mix in, but they still watch. They still wish that something they do could gain even the smallest glimmer of admiration from anyone.
There's good attention and bad attention, and at this point, we're so desperate that we'll take either. Look at YouTube- stars will start drama with each other just to get more views and more likes, to rile up their respective communities. There are some who try to keep the peace, the calm waters, but they will inevitably fail- because, as much as we crave attention, we are just as eager to give it away.
We fall for the clickbait because we want the titles to be true- we take sides on issues and controversies just to hear our own voices preach about our own sides, not to listen to and support others. When we put our hands up in class, it's to hear ourselves talk and be listened to, not to contribute to the discussion and ignite ideas to further the topic. It's almost disgusting how blatant we are with this, and yet we absolutely refuse to acknowledge it. Maybe even this article itself is a hopeless cry for attention.
But whatever it is, we're all still human. Watch yourselves, kids.
Obviously, I'm always aiming to improve, because if not, what's the point of writing? I'm still in school for a reason. Another added bonus of having me as your writing partner, I'm always up to write just about anything. Except foot fetishes. God, I hate foot fetishes. It's feet!! What did feet ever do to you?!
