I couldn't sleep the other night because my brain was doing its "doesn't want to shut up" thing, so I typed out all my thoughts and the next day realized that it might make for a pretty good article. So, here goes.

I kept asking myself: how do I tell the difference between what's real and what's something someone else made up that I told myself I should believe in?

Bear with me.

We don't feel as if we're beautiful, smart or funny unless someone else says so. A photographer's photos mean nothing if they don't have an Instagram following in the hundreds of thousands. An artist's art isn't "real art" if it isn't being displayed in some snooty art gallery run by people who've never made anything remotely creative in their entire lives.

Why is it that we think we have to be validated by the masses in order to count for something?

The boy I locked eyes with likely has an intricate and intriguing mind, but why is it so much harder to feel like he's worth pursuing if the rest of society doesn't agree with me on how attractive he is?

All of us are looking to each other for what's what. We're all just a school of fish and nobody can tell who made the first move or who decided which direction we should go in. We just keep moving along, together, incessantly and unthinkingly.

The reason why this has come to be is that we like shortcuts. We want to let other people decide for us what's worth our attention, time and energy and to jump on the bandwagon of whatever's popular right now. It isn't entirely a bad thing, but I think it's become the quicksand of the modern world. It's become second nature to dismiss someone who doesn't have at least a few thousand followers on Instagram or to brush off the plain-looking girl. That photographer might be incredible, and that girl might have one of the most unique minds in the world, but you'll likely never know because you never gave them a chance because they never gave them a chance.

Shortcuts are great. Scrolling through BuzzFeed to see what's currently funny, cool or politically incorrect is a great way to stay up to date. But in doing so, you might miss the really cool guy living right across the hall or the obscure clothing line that isn't Topshop or Zara that actually makes super dope clothes.

Don't just see what everyone else thinks you should see.

Don't just eat what everyone keeps posting on Instagram.

Don't just listen to Spotify's Today's Top Hits playlist.

Don't just lust after the guy that all the other girls think is super hot.

Don't try to look the way you think all the cool people look.

Bury yourself in a deep dark Spotify hole with the best indie rock music or electronic music you've heard in a long time. Strike up a conversation with the person that your friends say is "nobody." Wear something you thought looked dope in the mirror, not on your iPhone screen.

Take the time to figure out who you are, what you like and what you want. We definitely have things in common, such as rooting for Leo or loving DJ Khaled's Snap Stories. But are you really just going to be another brick in the wall? Find your thing, find that weird thing to like that nobody else understands. And then find a friend in that one person you realize likes the same weird thing as you.

Let the mainstream be a starting point, but never the end.