As I gradually participate in my late-night droll scroll before going to sleep, I happen upon a video of a customer jumping over the counter of a Taco Bell. They fill up their own cup of Baja Blast, walk around the kitchen of the Taco Bell, and start to make small talk with the staff. The post was captioned, “Free Will (praying emoji)!” Next to the same words is a hashtag tag. I clicked on it and scrolled through thousands of videos of people doing absurd and unusual things. Free will. What is it, and what can you really do with it? 

“The supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe,” the online Encyclopedia Britannica said about free will. The supposed definition of this social media trend goes along cohesively with a more professional definition, all just relating to the idea that reclaiming or remembering that as humans we are free will simply means to act without believing anything is stopping you or punishing you after the fact. “I feel like if people just used their free will recklessly, everyday life would literally be constantly chaotic,” senior Josie Harnett said. 

People all across social media have decided that now is the time to reclaim their free will. This social media trend has created chaos and wreaked havoc on everyday life as it is. While this is not always in a bad way,it pushes societal boundaries. Social media services, such as Instagram and TikTok, have all begun to have their own definition of what free will truly means. What it seems to be defined as online is doing things without thinking about consequences, opinions of others, or societal standards. “Everyone has free will, but very few of us actually practice it in all aspects of our lives,” Tik Tok creator The Observers said. Although free will is fun, it’s also not an excuse to be disrespectful to people – use free will as something positive in your life without affecting others. 

Here are ten things you can do with your own free will:

1. Take a drive to the coast by yourself 
   1. In fact, do any activity by yourself (see a movie, take a trip, etc.)
2. Go up to someone in the street and give them a compliment about something niche
3. Go to out to a nice dinner in pajamas 
4. Scream at the top of your lungs in the quad
5. Eat a whole birthday cake by yourself 
6. Talk to yourself while having headphones 
7. If you are making dinner by your stove, pull your couch over to it to have a place to sit
8. Aim to break a world record 
9. Wear a superhero costume to school one day 
10. Buy yourself something you would never normally buy yourself
    1. Jewelry, clothes, a random action figure or collectable