Un-Hip(ster)

I knit, I bake, I craft, I read a lot of books, I love antiques and "vintage" things, old maps make me smile, and I love photography. What does this make me? Not a hipster.

The recent development of the term "hipster" and the culture that follows it seems to be no more than the latest fad. It's now cool to like things before they became popular, things that are old, and overall being creative. Funny how when I did all of that a few years ago, the only thing I could claim was being an "old soul" (hence the name of the blog). I wasn't cool, I wasn't a pioneer in a new wave of culture. I was geeky. I was the weird girl who knitted in class. I was the girl who read the strange fantasy and sci-fi books. I was the nerd and I was different.

Imagine my surprise when I come to college and all of a sudden what made me an outcast is now widely considered cool. I get amazed looks when I pull out my knitting. I get asked my opinion on the once-strange  books I read and have read. People actually like the crafts I make and I've even been able to sell a few. It seems that the traits that simply make up who I am are now a widely accepted and sought after way of life.

Widely being dubbed "hipster", this "lifestyle" covers a lot of ground. It encompasses anyone that may have a bit of an old soul and/or a creative knack. The overall concept was to have liked something or have been doing something "before it was cool". Well, it seems that being a hipster is now cool and, with so many people trying to jump on the wagon, it is loosing its value and overall becoming quite an annoying phenomenon.

I now can't stand the term "vintage", Instagram photos make me cringe at their wide misuse (though every once in a while, a rare gem can be found), people speed-read through books and horribly misunderstand them, and the internet is now over-saturated with people trying to be something they are not and shoving it into peoples' faces. Honestly, if I hear one more person say something along the lines of "I liked that before it was cool" or "you can't have an opinion on this because you didn't like it before it was cool", I may lose it.

So, I will take my knitting and books and back away from this mess of a fad. I don't want to be a part of it. I never did. I just happened to be doing the right nerdy things at the right nerdy time. I am not cool. I am not a hipster. I am just me.