We all want what we can’t have. This includes being the person we can’t be. Throughout my blog, you will come to find that this coming of age story is influenced by my perspective on relationships, society, and culture.

It’s easy to simply say, “Dare to be different”, smile as wind blows in my hair, and hold up the latest bottle of mascara. Now more than ever being different in LA is actually a good thing. It’s what makes artists like Lorde intriguing and blogger Tavi Genvinson refreshingly bold. But for most of us, it’s easier said than done. It’s easier to sit back and dream about what could be. It’s easier to photoshop out our zits and Instagram our social life rather than admit that we’re anything less than perfect. No matter how many likes we get, or how many matches we find on Tinder, we are never satisfied.

As a late bloomer, or even as someone in the process of blooming, I still find myself considering ways to better myself. I've considered all the make-up I could pile on or socks to stuff in my bra as if having cleavage and a prettier face would actually make me a better, more approachable person. In so many books and movies, I’ve seen how the less pretty girls overcompensate with their personalities in order to snag the guy. It’s a cute lesson, but it’s gotten quite old.

So, it goes without saying, that our uniqueness is what makes life bold. This is the time, dearest reader, to experiment. Be preppy if you’ve always wanted to be preppy. Be a hipster even if that means you might look like an over-priced hobo. Even if you don’t know what it means to be you, at the very least, you deserve to live happily.

Maybe this desire to overcompensate will never go away. But maybe that’s a good thing.

Maybe I’ll never be a perfectly cut diamond. But, for what it’s worth, nowadays being perfect is un-cool.

xx Ella-Kol