Am I Unique Enough?

I've got to an age where I realised I'm not special. I'm nobody's favourite person. I'm not going to magically grow up into someone significant. In a world of Gatsby's I am a Nick. This is deeply upsetting to me but why should it matter so much? Why do we set so much importance on individuality?

Is feeling loved the same as feeling special? I don't believe so. One can feel loved because they are ordinary or because they change themselves to fit in. We have this idea in Western societies that if you are 'yourself' (in the sense of "just be yourself") that will automatically make you quirky and interesting. The unique and lovable parts of ourselves we hide away to fit the status quo will be celebrated or useful in one way or another. But what if your true self is simply ordinary? 

If your true self is an average, normal person like a default character or a Lego man before the hats and swanky clothes, you have to try to embellish that because people won't believe that's who you are. They will find you uninteresting. You require a 'glow up' aka a change of your whole expression of self to then be deemed more easily liked or loved by society at large. So the idea at in order to be loved you must be yourself is really not a one-size-fits-all solution. 

Of course, most people would argue that you're not really being yourself is you are typical, average and unnoteworthy. Or that you are overlooking unique parts of yourself. But let's say for this thought experiment that it's true. This denial of the capability of a person to be average by default, not engineering, in itself implies it is actually a flaw. In today's individualistic world, a person who has no unique features is a person who doesn't belong. 

Why is individual identity so important to us now? Standing out from the crowd once had an evolutionary advantage, but it still required the context of a cohesive social group for survival. Individuals have been praised for shaping society due to invention or creativity which require new ways of thinking. Individuality can therefore be seen as a driving factor for progression, innovation and positive change. 

However, in politics individuality is currently having a somewhat negative impact as groups are not large enough to put enough pressure on governments to enact real changes to laws or to prevent certain bills from passing. The needs of the whole are being outweighed by the needs of the individual which is leading to some worrying developments in technology and social discipline. Schools are suffering as children are told their individual needs are greater than that of a class. 

Given all this, it is a wonder to me why the average is seen as insignificant. And if you're feeling normal, average and dull just know that actually you are the faithful backbone of society. Movers and shakers are good in moderation but nothing works without decent infrastructure. People who vote and put their bins out. People who have routines and listen to the music on the radio. Taking it back to the Lego Movie, your power lies in being normal. That doesn't mean you can't still be the main character in your own story.