Who Am I Living For?

"You want your classmates to think you look nice, don't you?" I can remember my mother saying. "To the other girls your age, looks is everything."
Now that I think back over it, and the other similar requests my parents have thrown at me, there's one simple word that I can extract from all of their requests, and it keeps repeating itself over and over in my mind. Impress. But why should I need to impress? Shouldn't people like me for me instead of how I look? Shouldn't someone be judged on their personality rather than appearance? I understand that appearance has a small part to play in they way people are viewed, and especially first impressions, but shouldn't it remain as just that? A small portion.

"Kay, you've got to live for yourself," a friend has told me recently, and that was what started me thinking. Up until now, I've been doing it my whole life without a second thought, but why should I be striving to impress those around me? You want someone to like you for you, not an 'improved' or 'bettered' version of yourself that's not really you. That can lead to some problems down the track sometimes if you forget your original facade. Those types of messes are the ones I realise now that I don't want to get into.

"What's changed about you?" Jenna asks when I approach her at school. "There's something... different. You seem happier."
"I'm living for myself," I say simply, shrugging.
"And who were you living for before?" she asks, her eyebrows knitting together.
"Everyone else," I say. "I was trying to impress everybody. But not anymore. I'm living for myself now, finally. I'm me, and anyone who wants to can take me or leave me as I am."
Jenna smiles. "I always knew you were stronger than you thought you were Kay."
"Really?" I ask, blinking.
"Yeah, there was always a light inside of you," Jen says, her smile growing wider. "One spark will shock the world."