Hannah Montana once told me everybody makes mistakes; everybody has those days.
She was absolutely right. For her, the mistake could have been writing that awful song. For most of us, it will be the things we look back on and rather than remembering why we did them, we’ll remember many of our peers were doing the same thing. Some of us shaved steps into our eyebrows, some of us wore 3-D glasses as a fashion statement, and some of us spent hours we can never get back learning how to solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute.
At the time, these things were trendy and accepted. We saw the bandwagon and we ran to jump on. Only in retrospect did we see the folly in our actions.
Luckily, not all trends are embarrassing mistakes we wish we could forget.
Regardless of whether or not any of the participants knew what Lou Gehrig’s disease was, the ice bucket challenge was a short-lived trend that raised over $100 million to help find a cure. Lots of people who rushed out to buy a longboard in the mid-2000s didn’t continue to use it past their first accidents, but others found a lifelong passion for cruising. Even Furbys gave some people the opportunity to have friends who would (sort of) talk to them when no one else would.
I devoted all of my time and attention last semester to finding the things that were trendy or becoming trendy and then I would try them out for myself. Would these trends be my embarrassing regrets or would I find a new hobby? Could I perhaps find a renewed sense of the purpose of life? I couldn’t know unless I tried.
I will continue this groundbreaking investigative journalism throughout this semester – for the good and education of all of Dixie State University. Will I have to join a CrossFit gym? Grow my hair out and get a man-bun? Ride one of those hoverboards Wiz Khalifa loves so much? We will soon find out.
Are there things you would like to see me try? Do you have trends you are curious about? Tweet me your suggestions. You can read and learn from my mistakes and victories. Then you can ask yourself if you want to be a part of what is Trending Now.