“Do you know who you are?” Like truly know?
Growing up, I think that we are so programmed to think, act, feel and believe a certain way that we know who we were but not who we are.
When I was 12 years old, my mom threw me a One Direction party. She wasn’t aware of how much I loved them already and that I had known them since I was 10, so she wasn’t the one to introduce them to me.
Nevertheless, I gave her a smile, and to this day, I give her credit for “introducing” me to One Direction.
Now, as I write this, I am in no way bashing One Direction music because I am to this day a Directioner, but one thing I can say about their music is that it was what I wanted to hear.
They called me beautiful and sang to me, even with songs named “Diana” and “Olivia,” and my world revolved around Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne.
So, it’s no surprise that I was devastated when they broke up in August 2015. Years of touring, video diaries, funny interviews, stage falls and beautiful albums would no longer be made with all five of them together.
Out of all five of the boys, I truly focused on Harry Styles when they separated.
Now, of course, his dimples, cute innocent face and witty jokes are what brought me in as a Directioner, but the older I became, the more I realized Harry Styles was finally discovering himself.
And so was I, thanks to his second album “Fine Line,” which he put out in December 2019.
When listening to this album, you would be shocked to find out that this is a singer who used to be in a cookie-cutter boyband. This album touched on discovering yourself, first loves, broken relationships, being the reason for those broken relationships and self-reflection.
As a young 12-year-old, I wasn’t aware of how confined he was during his One Direction years. No painted nails, keep long hair, don’t say too much, keep songs PG and “hearthrobbish” (yes, I made a word).
It wasn’t until he started touring on his own that I saw a Harry Styles that I genuinely started looking up to and loving on a much deeper scale than just what he gave off in One Direction.
Styles painted his nails, cut his hair, limited social media, went against many male stereotypes and wore pink, skirts, rings, floral and risky outfits that weren’t the norm. He danced more vibrantly on stage and looked more himself and happy.
The album “Fine Line” took him a long time to make, but he came out with unique songs like “Watermelon Sugar,” “Lights Up,” “Cherry,” “She” and more. He was able to sing about real life, and not all of it was pretty, but he did it in such an elegant way that it just fit.
I remember my dad listening to the song “Falling” and talking about how Styles’ voice sounded so raw and full of emotion. I was shocked because my dad never talks about Harry Styles unless it’s to joke about him to get me mad (lol). So when I saw how my dad genuinely felt the pain from Styles in this song, I was on cloud nine.
My mom bobs her head to “Adore You” and calls it such a pretty and sweet song. In it, Styles talks about the excitement of meeting someone. This is the opposite of “Falling,” which is more of a song about falling out of love and not blaming anyone but yourself.
In an interview about the release of “Fine Line,” Styles talked about how the album is all about sadness and self-reflection.
When you listen to “Fine Line,” you see that Styles isn’t perfect and that he is also rediscovering himself, just as much as we are. You will hear how much he actually feels his songs and how gracefully and effortlessly he expresses himself.
I used to care so much what people thought of me and would be scared to tell people what I want. Now, I write more, and I support what I want, not what everyone wants me to want.
I discovered that I am stronger than I thought, and I would be lying if I said Harry Styles wasn’t a massive part in me learning more about who I am.
So, when you get asked the question, “Do you know who you are?” really think about if you truly know who you are and who you are not.
