Bacon has been around for a long time. Its not news that bacon is delicious, but for the longest time it was somewhat relegated to breakfast time. Nowadays it seems like you cant turn around and not see bacon flavored everything, heck, one of our most iconic pairs of socks are covered in bacon. Now, i wanna ask, is this a bad thing? is it wrong to love bacon so much? is it weird? I'm not really sure, we could talk all day about why some things catch on and some don't, and there really doesn't seem to be a way to track the trajectory of popularity.
It doesn't keep people from trying though, but most of the time it turns into a race of who can get on the bandwagon first, and how catchy their slogan is. You don't even have to be the original creator, most of the time the origin is lost in the flurry and rush of everyone trying to get a piece of the action, and we're left with a million copies of the same product all vying for our attention. Children in particular have the unique ability to sift through these things and find the diamond in the rough so to speak. History shows that youth and young adults are always at the forefront of innovation, at least when it comes to trending products and ideas. Lets face it, the older we get the more set in our ways we become, that's a fact of life, and stagnation is the apotheosis of a product, its all downhill from there.
So, are we destined to watch our favorite past times, products and hobbies sink into obscurity as new and quicker trends replace them? Maybe so, probably so, but that doesn't mean we cant enjoy the ride right? There's always going to be a new shiny toy around the corner, and we may begrudge or envy the teeming masses who await the newest and best, while we sit here with our favorite watcha-ma-callit, and realize...maybe new isn't always better. Maybe classics can be just that, classic, timeless. That realization doesn't mean innovation is bad, someone had to make mistakes and take risks to get us where we are today. I think the best thing we can do for ourselves is kill complacency, and get out of our comfort zone, it's the only way to move forward, especially in an industry saturated with trends.
I'm excited to be a part of this ride, seeing all the individuals who are risking their ideas on the mass market set a fire inside me. It's given me new perspective on what it takes to inspire people, and how infectious someones passion can become. At the end of the day, its not about socks, its about expressing yourself, and being weird, and choosing to be in the moment. At least that's how I choose to see it, and in the end, isn't that the point?