Stop being boring and embrace your cringe.

Well, well, well if it isn’t the blog I’ve neglected since the summer…

No excuse for not posting other than third year of university has taken over my LIFE, but I am now so close to the finish line. Having handed in my final individual project (art school’s version of a dissertation) and having a week to get over the ~trauma~ that that was, I have some free time to write and dump my thoughts onto this blog! Aware this isn’t a hard-hitting piece of writing and is probably SO incoherent, but let me just get back into the swing of things, alright?

Let me start off by giving you a few minutes to think about the word “cringe” …

You may think of that thing you did 8 years ago, that physical feeling you get in your stomach after seeing a group of 12-year-olds do the latest TikTok dance in public (or being a 21-year-old caught in your room by your mum…) or even just something someone does that makes you breathe in sharply and CRINGE.

Whatever ‘cringe’ means to you, I think it’s time we put the negative association with the word aside and start to live our best cringey lives.

I feel like people avoid being cringe in terms of what they’re passionate about, the niche interests they have or even just embracing the things that make them unique. I personally love it when people tell me about something so random that they’re interested in. I will happily sit there and listen to you tell me about shark documentaries you enjoy and give me facts about the ocean, even though I am deathly afraid of water and the thought of the ocean being a bottomless pit is sending me into an anxiety spiral.

I think in today’s society we are all so hyperaware of how we are perceived to other people, and my question is, why?

While I’m not saying being cringe will solve this, I’m just saying that its time to stop giving a fuck. Literally, who is going to judge you for trying out Zumba? (highly recommend btw getting your 60 mins of exercise while shaking it to Latin pop… unmatched) , or wearing your sunglasses inside because YOU think you look cool or attempting to be a mysterious girlie reading a book on your own in a coffee shop, or yes…. Even clap when the airplane lands.

The moral of the story is WHO CARES! Just start doing the things that you want to do, and genuinely who is going to care if someone thinks it’s cringey, are you going to get arrested for it?

No. I didn’t think so.

(Unless your so called ‘cringe’ hobby is being naked in public, in that case please I am begging you just live that fantasy on Sims or something because you will get arrested.)

It’s time we start embracing what makes us individual and be proud of our quirks! For example, personally, as you all know I love writing. However, it took me about 4 years to make this blog. I thought that people would think that I was embarrassing, weird and made me seem like a complete loser talking to herself but writing my thoughts is something that I enjoy, so I brushed this aside and just started it. To be honest, after my first post I turned my phone off and hid in my room. I physically felt that second hand embarrassment twisting in my stomach. Now I don’t care if people think it’s silly, annoying or a complete waste of time. I have fun doing it so cringe away guys, Smidge isn’t going anywhere!

2023 is the year of being proud to be cringe.

My point of this post is to get you to think about something that maybe you don’t do, or want to start doing but are afraid because of judgement and societal perceptions, and just go for it!!!!

Let me know below what you are proud to be cringey about!