Though it is a Saturday today and I’m usually busy on Saturdays, it happens to be a public holiday here and I’m kinda free. So the article comes today!!!
Today, I’d like to talk about life creation. Not life creation as in birthing a child into the world or anything. Life creation as in crafting a life of your own that most prospers you! So I personally believe that I’m sliding the final puzzle pieces into place here… I’ll expand on this now.
The puzzle pieces that slide most easily into place, like the very corners of the puzzle that you can identify at first glance. Those are the things that you just know are for you. Thus they fall perfectly into your life plan. Relevant examples for me would be writing and philosophy, which I do! here. I mean, how could they even be more me? They’re just so me already.
Other examples would be, well, the theatre class where I get to perform and shine, languages that I really enjoy learning, with aptitude for which I have gratitude and visible progress. Or walking a certain number of steps each day to maintain a healthy lifestyle! I believe that all of these share one general similarity.
Basically, they’re just too well-integrated into my self-concept that the question doesn’t even arise ‘should I go do this?’? Rather, it’s more of I know! I have to do this because this is who I am and thus a desire arises within me when I have yet to do so for the day. Yep desire naturally wells up within me to partake in these activities!
And before I thought maybe desire was the best guiding post. However…
You know, they say that motivation is a fickle and unpredictable friend. Why? Well, it doesn’t ensure consistency all that well. What does is a general routine, built around self-concept, as I have theorised before. Basically, you have a list of tasks you know you must! do, you actually want!!! to do that you tick off over the course of the day. At least, this basically is the general principle I’ve been working off in recent days…
However, here comes the question. When you’re done with this list of things that you know are you, what can you do? Can you still comfortably carry out a series of activities that you feel correct doing?!!
Hey ya I know this may will come off weird and all, but bear with me yeah.
So eventually I arrived at the realisation: these elements are already in my life. It’s just that as unproductive as they are, they did not make the cut for my previous, more doing list… Instead they took a backseat and I didn’t see a need to do them.
Sure, on the list there are some activities which arguably might be seen as being activities too. For instance, yoga? Because technically exercise is good for the body and helps maintain a healthy lifestyle! Maintaining human relationships and doing conversation? I mean there is a clear to get better goal from it! Moving me towards my more ideal self!
However, at the end of the day, I realised when looking for a new activity to fill in my nothing better to do! time that… hey, truly. I really shouldn’t actually go around looking for that perfect element to fill in the gap that just nicely clicks into the puzzle. Voila. Harmony and perfection! Nope.
Maybe also because they’re oft-trodden paths of mine and the novelty of a new activity isn’t there, but…
I actually already had those elements in my life. I just wasn’t seeing them. I was overlooking them even, and not according them the proper status and engagement that they should have in my life. Aww.
Anyways, without further ado, here they are, or some of them at least.
First of all is reading webnovels. I actually didn’t really read them as much sometimes before because well, I felt a lack of novelty because it was kind of a been there, done that thing. And is it escapism because it just comes so easily to me? Is there something better that I’m neglecting as a result?! …Ok no gaslighting of myself.
Another would be games like Risk and those Riot games like Lol, Valo… Basically for Risk I stopped playing it for a long, long time. Why? Well. I didn’t feel a loss if I didn’t play it. It wasn’t irreplaceable to me, so much! so as some of the other activities in my life are. For those PC games, huh. Basically, I didn’t feel like I really cared about climbing rank there at all, and yeah, also not something irreplaceable! I don’t do it and kallfine.
Such activities were, honest but true… forgettable.
But now I’ve come to a realisation. Maybe they are indeed aligned with me, just not yet integrated into my self-concept… here goes.
I need only try to imagine the state of being that engaging in those activities places me in… To be honest, I can go all in on them. Some activities I tried for example like when watching K-pop dance videos basically are much more fungible than the aforementioned items. Why do I say that? Well, because some part of me goes ok huh why am I doing this and it’s a bit detached and hmm and observing myself doing them lolz.
Whereas for the activities that I’ve reclaimed, I can well and truly say that I enjoy my states of being when doing said activities. Of course, there is! a caveat I cannot deny. For example, when playing Risk, I totally see no desire to do anything but the most Classic map and Classic mode yet. Might change someday, but till then, whatever. Just that I’ve got not remotely any desire to play ranked games because I’m 100% fine either way whether I can climb or not.
Regarding Lol, yeah, I have mentioned previously that I’m ranked bronze but usually placed together with golds and plats in my ranked games or something. Still, what does it matter if I literally have no desire to go compete with them and climb to my true level at all? No desire arises within me to do the thing – is quite a big motivator for me not to do it.
But now let’s switch the perspective. Maybe let’s say I have nothing better to do. I’m done with the list of tasks I want to do for the day. I doomscroll. But I hate doomscrolling because it’s lame and takes away, robs me of my energy. But my list doesn’t really have anything suited to the occasion. I consider reading webnovels. But I hesitate to commit because well, it honestly doesn’t click right perfectly into my self-concept as the right thing to do…
First world problems… 🙁
Anyway, I hope these days are over. Nowadays, I go do one of these things that I know I can derive fulfilment from, without any guilt whatsoever!!! In fact, here’s another perspective for your consideration…
Neural pathways. For instance, I might want to play go because seeing people playing weiqi in historical Chinese dramas is so freaking dope. But I don’t really have anywhere to go learn it. But well, another strategy game, Risk? I can totally be a cool general and strategist in it haha. So alright! That’s what I’ll do.
Oftentimes, don’t forget about the neural pathways that you’ve built up in the past. For what do they represent? Why, they represent a tried-and-tested and already solidified act for you to gain enjoyment from!
It would be insanity to keep on the never-ending search for All Blue. When you already have it, the things that light you up! And ultimately, I would say that this is a paradigm shift that I’ve hard with regard to this article.
True, maybe the doing things especially, the things that define you and are your brand identity, are much more one-of-a-kind and cannot be replaced. However! It needn’t be like that for your being things as well. There is no need to go on an endless search for perfection. Just think about it this way.
For the doing things, they fulfil you and complete you so in a way that only they can. However, there is no need to exactly replicate that with the being things, for which you literally have zero ambition and it’s more to pass the time! Let them mature and blossom when they will, if they will. Honestly…
Even if they don’t exactly seem to complete you in making you an even more resplendent version of yourself, don’t discount how they fulfill you so… In a sense they do complete your life. Just not by being the perfect fit for you that nourishes your soul so incomparably. More in how they can provide you sustainable happiness long-term. That is their role and their purpose in your life, and that is more than enough.
Finally, I would also like to add in how a bit of a structure aka mini-routine can greatly help integrate these things into your life if they don’t come that naturally…
For instance, about a month ago, I started some things that I do once a week or twice a week. For instance, I watch a movie once per week. Not necessarily in a cinema, just a Netlflix one is fine! Because movies are the perfect blocks of duration as opposed to dramas which take more time as more haphazard additions, was my consideration at the time. Anyways…
It’s been great. I’m loving it.
Where would I be had I not integrated this act into my life? Well, my overall enjoyment score would definitely be lower!
Another one would be piano, that I’ve been having a love-hate relationship with like since forever. I play without score twice a week, and with score twice a month. These can overlap. So basically I’ve been doing it and. Enjoying it well enough! Yep!
On the one hand, I am maintaining a basic level of proficiency in the latter skill, and building up my proficiency in the former skill to a level where I can hopefully ‘wax eloquent’ on the piano for a bit in the future. Great! Now, maybe consider this? Had I not integrated this practice into my life, this weekly habit, I really wonder if I would even be practising at all!
So well! I understand, maybe this thing isn’t really as for me as it is for some people who can practice piano everyday. It isn’t truly what makes me me! But so what? It can still have a bit of a minor place in my life! It can still be a part of my self-concept! Just a minor one, true, and a not so ambitious and accomplished one, true, but yeah, it has a place yo.
The exact same principle, I believe, applies exactly to those being activities I mentioned previously that I don’t have a more rigorous whenever for. Instead, I only do them when I have extra time AND I feel like it… Spontaneity alongside structure, both co-existing well! I like it.
One last thing I would like to have a mention for that I do weekly is music composing. Basically the lyrics and melody come quickly to me when I do the songwriting, and I can maybe get them done in 2+ hours? at most. But it’s different for composing. Over the course of the past 4 weeks, I’ve been doing weekly composing. Ingrained!!! into my nervous system the act of composing actual piano music on Musescore. One last week to completion and then after that it’s recording…
So before that? I’d totally neglected the act and would never do it at all.
Now, I’d like to relate back this desire not arising within me to self-concept and comfort zone, as well as the feeling of this is who I am.
The desire does not arise within me to do those activities because they are not an already integrated part of my self-concept. I mean, if it’s just the songwriting alone it would probably be more easily integrated since honestly it comes to me relatively easily, but the composing part much less so because it ain’t that natural to me. So technically if I didn’t have to do the composing part maybe even I’d write a new song once every few days lolz.
But now? Well, I’ll probably only consider, no, actually do! the writing of a new, next song after I finish the previous one, which had been in the works icebox forever due to a lack of composing. 🙁 But well, now I’ve finally brought myself to do it yo!
So yeah. These things aren’t exactly a part of your self-concept yet… But what do you do? Well, you continue doing it over a period of time, and then it grows on you that, ah, this is what I go and do when… voila!!! Thereafter it would have become a part of your identity, and self-concept! Basically, you become much less apologetic and hmm and wondering while doing it because it’s just become who you are. From should I, to… I wanna!
And that, as I see it, is the final puzzle piece to the ideal roadmap of you as a creator of your life! As perfectly matches the photo at the top!!!
Now, I used to actually write articles for money before, and what I would do then is add pictures once every five paragraphs or so because it helps people stay reading on the article. Idk, attention span issue or summat? Haven’t been doing that here though! Just remained totally immersed!!! in the writing process! But hey, no need to be too perfectionistic right lolz.
Well, I feel I’ve been writing for ages! already, oh yeah, gotta explain the title at the end. Hmm. So, insisted identity injected. Basically! You don’t naturally feel drawn to do that thing. Because it doesn’t yet feel like who you are! And you’re ahem… a tad adamant on only doing things that are! truly aligned! Well, in that case! You insist!
You grant a provisional identity license (lol) to said activity. You are what I’d do. And just let me do ya, k? For this the I guess maybe I should try doing this?? ain’t enough! You gotta truly have a bit of no, I do! want actually am! feeling a desire to enjoy myself doing this right now yo! Basically gotta stamp in that doing this is normal 4 ya henceforth.
And truly, you realise that you do quite enjoy yourself in doing so.
For otherwise, well, how might you fill up all the gaps in your life?!! Would you stay searching for an illusory All Blue all your life? The complexity therein… sometimes, friend, the sufficiency of simplicity! suffices…
As in, don’t overthink and just do it. You live, in order to enjoy life! Obviously responsibility and such are important too but don’t forget!
Oftentimes, the elements are already, have already been in your life. Someday the search must end… Neural pathways, recall ’em!
Alignment is kinda a fixation to me yep. Spiritual growth y’know.
And now I think I’ll end this article rather than just drone on and on 4ever. Love and light! Daimon out. 🙂