The Original Hipster

Dear Hipsters, 

This may come as some surprise to some of you, my fellow brethen, clad in lumberjack flannel, thick-rimmed Ray Bans, eco-chic Toms, listening to the custom "Chill" mix on your iPod, writing in your Moleskine journal at the local independent coffee shop, but I've got some things to say to you. 

You are not the first hipster in American history. Almost two hundred years ago, the originals came onto the scene with a revolutionary message: "trust thyself". New Englanders by birth, these so-called "Transcendentalists" called for a new age of self-reliance, distrust of authority, forging a new path of confidence and non-conformity. In a new study released this week by Harvard University sociologists, hipster is actually defined by these Transcendentalist traits, namely non-conformity. As soon as something gets popular, hipsters change their opinions. 

An actual conversation I once overheard in my local used bookstore which went something like this: 

"Have you ever heard of a band called 'Fleet Foxes'? 

With undeniable disdain, "Have I heard of them? I have every album on limited edition vinyl!"

With undeniable remorse, "Well, they're alright."

Classic hipster move. Check and mate. Regardless of response, they win the cool competition: if you haven't heard of them, they enlighten you with their uniqueness, if you're overly familiar, they distance their opinions.  

Maybe our own modern-day hipsters have something to learn from an American original: rely on your self, trust thy self, don't look for approval from others for your style, your taste, your truth. Sure, you think you're all alone in this, you think you're so misunderstood. Before you start moaning and putting on your black eye shadow, as Emerson once said, "to be great is to be misunderstood". It's not about the world not liking you, it's about the world not comprehending your message because it is so radically counter to the status quo. Non-conformity has always been an undercurrent in American culture, from Emerson to Kerouac to King, but "marching to the beat of a different drummer" will never mean you have to shop at Urban Outfitters to find your Beat headphones. The original message is about something deeper than all of that superficial style. Non-conformity is about changing your world view so that it encompasses the whole world and your inner world simultaneously. It's about being political active by civil disobedience, seeing the world through Nature's eyes, and relying on your own inner strength.