What is Cynical Mindset?

What Is Cynical Mindset?

Cynical Mindset is not just a streetwear brand or a cheap money grab. Cynical Mindset is a community, a message, and a dream; a dream to inspire others to believe in themselves and be motivated by their self-interest. Here we believe that basing your happiness on others' opinions will only lead to disappointment. The only opinion that matters is your own; being your source of happiness leads to growth and fulfillment. Show kindness to others, but do not base any action or decision on what they may think. 

The story behind why I started making clothes starts back in middle school. 

Everyone will agree when I say middle school is the most awkward stage of life. Every kid is different; some of them hit puberty earlier than expected, and middle school is the perfect representation of that. A student on your right might have a beard, while the one on your left just got off the daycare van. This is all fun and games until you're the little kid. Growing up I’ve been told I am too small, although I was average height I needed to gain weight. Hearing this everyday from my parents and other kids at school, that grew at an insane rate, made me very insecure. I’ve always hated how I looked, and felt super suspicious whenever a camera was in the room. To this date I have no pictures in my phone of me before 9th grade. 

This phase was no-doubt the worst of my life, but without it I really don’t think I’d be the same.  You see during this time I based my self-worth off of other people’s opinions; if someone didn’t like something about me I would change it purely because they didn’t like it. This isn’t how a person should live, because you will never find happiness in the hopes of other people's opinions. I’ve recently started a clothing brand for this reason. I want to spread  motivation for oneself interest and not for other people's interest in what you should become. Here is my story.

In 2019, right before Covid-19. I was in 7th grade and arguably the most insecure I've ever been. I had this group of friends and through the school we were called, “The UN”. I don't think this had racial intent, but nonetheless we were a group of 4 all from different nationalities. One Filipino, one Vietnamese,  one African American, and one Caucasian. In this group I had my best friends. In every group though you have the friend everyone makes fun of, and that's ok. I wore cartoon graphic tee-shirts, cargo shorts that go to my mid-calf and worn down new balance sneakers. I had oversized square-shaped glasses, insane acne, braces and in case you forgot I was abnormally skinny. 

One day in particular my math teacher, a short and round man with a highschool teen attitude, called me to the front. He asked me to solve the equation written on the board. Not very much a hard question as I finished pretty quickly, but just as I finished writing my answer, I heard snickering. This is the worst feeling in the world, being in front of the whole class and getting laughed at. To my surprise it was the teacher and two of my friends. I felt crushed; not even so much crushed at the fact that I was getting laughed at by a middle aged man, but my best friends. They were laughing at my calves. Looking back that's so miniscule, but the fact I couldn’t leave my desk and not get laughed at broke me. So then on, I never wore shorts for the rest of middle school.  This is just one of many examples I think a lot of people can relate to. Someone does not like something that you are doing or what you have, so you change it. This is wrong; I was lucky enough to overcome this and realize other people's view doesn't matter. I want to help other people be able to become their own source of happiness.

Yeah, I know that I may not have had the best of friends and they shouldn’t have done that. On the other hand the fact is I changed a trait of mine whether it be my hair, my style or how I walk, to abide by someone's re-envision of me. I decided now that I want to start a movement. I don’t care if I help one person or if I help one hundred. I don’t care if it seems outlandish or far-fetched. I want to help people that are stuck in the same loop of forming their happiness and self-worth off other people. I decided clothing would be the best representation of that. I love anime, nonetheless it can be viewed as “weird”. So I want to make stylish clothes people can wear, and represent themselves even if they have never seen the show on their back. I want to create a community of people who feel free to embrace who they want to be. I want people to be purely motivated by their own success and not a re-envision of how society wants them to be. Now all there is to do is move forward, with the creation of Cynical Mindset.