An old, old friend of mine recently said to me in hatred of one of my column pieces, “Just know in the end, you’ll never win as long as I exist.”
If I had said that, it would make sense. It is something I would say since I take control of my fate so strongly and have determined success. But coming from him, it simply sounded like delusion to me.
This made me think about the so-called ‘delulu’ of Gen Z and millennials. Sure, it’s an entertaining trend to watch on TikTok that supports and promotes exaggerated views of actual opinions and thoughts of people. I do find them very entertaining and resonate with a lot of them.
But when does the ‘delulu’ go too far?
@mrs.stylesxoxo Stay delulu girlies, nothing chnages this year x #attentionseeker #delulu #compulsiveliar
Although it’s a new year and a time for new trends, the ‘delulu’ trend does not seem like it will disappear easily. The #delulu alone has 5.6 billion views right now.
Maybe this is because it borderline piggybacks off of a trend stemming from COVID-19 and the quarantine that has developed into lifestyles for people. Manifesting.
@romaneexvirgara Bit of a fun one for my lovers out there 🫣 #delulu #richbitchenergy #wealthmindset #manifestinglove #manifestingmethods #socialmediacoach
Manifesting is the ability to “make your dreams, goals, and aspirations a reality by believing you can achieve them.”
In the TikTok feed of the COVID-19 quarantine, a lot of people shared ways to manifest, including journaling, listening to subliminal messages, speaking affirmations, and more.
The ‘delulu’ trend seems to try to accomplish this same goal of making your dreams, goals, and aspirations a reality. However, the difference lies in the believing you can achieve them. Instead, it is made humorously delusional to believe some goals can be achieved.
For example, a majority of the humorous delusions I’ve seen on TikTok relate to love life dilemmas or better yet described as ‘situationships.’
@juminjuice no more delulu😭😭 #delusional #delulu #deluluisthesolulu #delulugiry #delulugirlies #girlfriend #boufriend #relationships #relationship #crush #mycrush #crushinghard
That TikTok seemed to call out every ‘delulu’ girl who could not seem to realize the guy they like does not like them back. I get it. I have been that ‘delulu’ girl before.
However, as you may imagine, the comments were not filled with epiphanies and gratitude for a hard realization and truth. Rather the comments were flooded with more ‘delulu’ responses such as, “idk because he’s shy! but he’s shy only around me, so is that a sign?” and “Idk but. Think he does sorry I’m. Delulu.” and “delulu girls can always manifest people they like.”
This delulu trend, although maybe mainly made with the intention of entertainment and clout behind it, sheds light on a great truth to me. The inability of any generation to face the truth.
In the world of psychology, a person’s choice to deny reality as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth to them is known as denialism.
For example, my old, old friend’s delusional statement and hatred of one of my column pieces stemmed from his inability to face the ugly truth of someone I wrote about in that column. Denialism.
So is the trend really ‘delulu’ or just disguised denialism?
Despite the essence of delusion being encouraged and defended as a trend last year and most likely for the majority of 2024, I still wish the more sane delusions and manifestations, unlike my old, old friends and that comment section, in the words of content creator Bianca Bernardo, “May all your delulu become trululu.”
@biancaxb08 new affirmation ✨✨
