Don't Be a Snob: Living a Happier Life by Allowing Yourself to Like Things

This entry is somewhat influenced by a Vlog by Christopher Bingham titled 'You Will Love Boring Things'. He speaks primarily to any young people approaching their twenties about what to expect in adulthood, and the first point he makes, 'All genres of music can be good', is one that I wasn't really aware that I agreed with until he said it. So I'm going to share a few things with you, in the hopes that I can get across the general idea of what I want to talk about today.

I'm an English graduate, and I'm currently reading Dracula, but I'm also following the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series, and I plan at some point to give Dan Brown a try. I like Beethoven, and Los Campesinos, and Eminem, and Beyoncé. Among my favourite films are WALL-E, Shaun of the Dead, and Deathproof. I like Breaking Bad, and I also like How I Met Your Mother, Friends, and Ed Edd n Eddy.

Now I don't claim to have the most refined tastes, or the most eclectic tastes, or even the most original tastes, I just have my tastes. And I'm still surprised that it took me so long to allow myself not only to tell people I liked these things, but just to like them in the first place. I thought that because I grew up playing violin, and studying English, and later getting into writing, that I was only allowed to like certain things, and had dismiss others. I thought that because classical music was good, rap was inherently not good, and so on, even though 'The Real Slim Shady' would play on an infinite loop for about three years of my young teenage life. I want to say now that I was, and by extension anybody who thinks that way now is, an idiot. By liking one thing you aren't suddenly blocked off from liking certain other things and it's ridiculous to think that you are. Some rap is bad, some is good, some classical music is good, and some is bad. Or, maybe it's all subjectively good in some capacity, you just might not like all of it. That happens. Believe it or not.

For some of you this all might sound obvious, and I can only say that you people are wiser than I was. But now I've found that I'm just that little bit happier for letting go of my own snobbery. I listen to what I want, read what I want, watch what I want, and it's less about ignoring what other people think of it, and more about ignoring what I think of it. Having a naturally analytical mind which I made worse by studying English, I have a tendency to overthink why I like something, and what it might say about me as a consumer, as a writer, as a person. Lately I'm trying to just accept that I like something because I like it, and force my brain to be satisfied with that kind of cyclical logic. Because what's the point of feeling guilty about liking something when there are plenty of legitimate things to feel guilty about instead?

To sum up, let me tell you about a conversation I had with my dad last December. He asked me why I liked a certain song, and after some thought I could only say 'it sounds good in my ears' which as an English graduate I have to say is an awful analysis. But it was true. Don't deny the music that sounds good in your ears just because 'people like you' shouldn't like it, because guess what. You do.