I obviously really like real things. I love real people. Especially real celebrities, because they are obviously stronger than the rest of us for staying real through all the pressure of the media. I think being real is a very individual thing, though. We all have our own levels of confidence.
What I mean by "real" in reference to celebrities is that they can be good people and be human like the rest of us. They can laugh but they can also cry. They don't strive for a good appearance, they strive for a good heart. Some examples of these people are Amy Poehler, Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence.
Amy Poehler, though hilarious, is a wonderful person with children and an amazing brain. She has a YouTube channel called "smartgirls". My favorite part of the channel is her "Ask Amy" segment. She takes questions from girls and women around the world and answers them with sincerity and wisdom. I love them because they are not only helpful, but they show that she is so much more than just a funny actress. She is a real person through and through. She cares about people, and wants to help other people make a difference.
I'm obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence. She is hilarious, and as real as you can get. She understands the women of the world! She comes from humble circumstances, and she doesn't care about her weight, she likes to eat, she doesn't like wearing pants, she is fine with embarrassing herself in public, etc. For more of me obsessing over Jennifer Lawrence, see my Pinterest board: Just For Kicks
I have tons of other funny stuff in there, but I have an ample amount of Jennifer Lawrence related pins. I want her to be my best friend so badly.
Emma Watson is so amazing I just can't handle it sometimes. For starters, she played my favorite character in my favorite series ever written, Hermione Granger. She is also humble and loves to learn. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is. She has absolutely no need of a college degree to make it in life, because she's already made it. Well, in the world's eyes she has. But she sees more in life. She is modest, wise, funny, utterly gorgeous, smart, and strives to be good and to keep learning. She is receiving my "Role Model Worthy" stamp of approval. Girls, start obsessing over her instead of Justin Bieber. Start trying to be like Hermione and Emma Watson, because if your goal is to be like Hermione, you're bound to do something good.
One of the parts of being real is being able to get real. By that, I mean get serious about some things. Not everything has to be a joke. Some things are serious, and deserve to be treated as such. Some of those things that deserve to be serious include actual people, more specifically, ourselves. Sometimes we try to be funny all the time just so people will like us. But in doing that, we make a joke of ourselves, and if we can't be comfortable being real, then we don't appear real to others.
I have found that a lot of people that are into comedy seem to have a hard time being serious. I've discovered this via YouTube. Take Grace Helbig (Daily Grace) for example. I have not seen her being actually serious about anything without an underlying comedic purpose. Some people, like Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen) seem to be more capable of doing this. I suspect it's a confidence thing. Daily Grace may not be as comfortable in her skin than Hannah Hart. I think when you are comfortable with who you are and are confident about being accepted, you are capable of getting real with people. It takes courage to be real and to expose your real emotions and opinions. Some people think that their only purpose is to make people laugh. But they need to realize that when we are seeing them as often as we do, we are coming to like this person for exactly who they are. I adore Hannah Hart, and the reason why I love her so much is because she has been comfortable with sharing parts of herself with her community. We have come to know her more fully as a person, rather than just an entertainer. We love being entertained by her, but we love it more because we love HER.
I've watched people grow over time on their YouTube channels. I don't just watch YouTube for entertainment. I love people more than anything, and I get to see the way that people act when they are putting themselves up for the world to see. I get to watch how their behaviors change over time, and all I have to do is watch a progression of videos in consecutive order. It's really fascinating to me to see the changes that occur in people.
I have issues with being serious sometimes. I feel comfortable in my own skin, and I can be serious with close friends, but I've discovered that in writing this blog, I am very different. When I write fiction, I can be extremely serious. Sometimes too serious, and I've had family members criticize my writing because it had heavy subject matter. But what they don't understand is that just because I called it fiction, does not mean it's any less real to me. I would not be able to write anything with as much depth if I hadn't actually felt it. Sometimes we use the fact that a story is fiction to mask the real meaning of it. Without the excuse of calling this blog fiction, I'm very exposed. This is all me, my thoughts and opinions, my humor, my feelings, it's all real. I think it can be a lot harder to write your own opinion than to write a fictional story. There's no hiding in writing about yourself.
In conclusion, we are not one dimensional. So don't make yourself appear one dimensional - when you show your own depth, you can have more meaningful relationships, you can get more out of life. It's really incredible what can come from accepting every aspect of yourself. Of course, when you accept something, it doesn't mean you can't change it. We grow every day, and just because we come to terms with something, does not mean we can't change. Growth and change is a part of being real. The most real things are natural. We should liken ourselves to trees - growing, changing, withering and blooming, giving and receiving, reaching, and living. At least that's my analogy, you can come up with your own.
