It has long interested me that as humans, part of our self-expression tied to our use of language is to communicate our likes and dislikes, our affinity for things by wearing them as a banner for all the world to see. What is it within us, I wonder, that makes us so susceptible to this practice? Are we so desperate to be liked, respected or accepted by others that we feel a need to help the process along? Do we love our favorite brands so much that we want to promote and thereby preserve them? Do we carry a greater sense of belonging within if we proclaim our adoration without? According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, 44% of US consumers own a promotional shirt of some kind. Promotional products bring in 20.5 billion dollars a year, and provide businesses than prime time TV, radio and magazines.
It is time to stop being the billboard for others, at our own expense, and their profit-making, and regain a sense of identity based on what is truly valuable and long lasting, instead merely what is convenient or cheap. We need to "become" from the inside out instead of the outside in. So here's to individualism and true identity, to finding our "inner selves", and expressing ourselves in ways other than imitation. In the words of Emerson, "Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide"; in other words, we copy others and follow the crowd at the cost of sacrificing the individual.
If you'll excuse me, I need to get ready to go to work in the Student Athlete Building. It's Friday, team support day, so that means I have to go put on my BYU Cougar shirt. I wouldn't want to go against the norm. :)
