Hey all! I’m back for this week’s article!
By the way, before I start the article, I just want to put a link here to the lyrics of my new song that I just released this week, Spotlight.
It’s all thanks to my weekly composing!
And my next song that I’m gonna compose for is already written too! 🙂 It’s more or less a Chinese song though…
Anyway.
So yeah, I’ll begin.
Basically, first let’s go to consciousness and existence.
The factor that differentiates us human beings from those so-called lower life forms like animals is none other than self-awareness, the self-referential I.
This actually plays a big role in how we work and live our lives!
First, we exist as a bundle of identities combined with impressions known as memories. Well, I believe that many philosophers have already touched on this before! I just wasn’t ready yet to intuitively understand this at the time back then when I first learnt about it! Oh and we naturally have a bunch of beliefs tied to this too. These are about ourselves, aka self-concept!
So basically, we live through our identities as our self-concept revolves around. And is the fundamental building block of what can cause change.
For instance, just consider my music. In recent months, I stepped in to the singer-songwriter identity and began diligently composing every week.
Before? Why, it was just a fledgling seedling in me that had yet to sprout. Honestly speaking, I lacked the belief in myself that I could actually compose. Sure, maybe I could write the lyrics and melody, but compose??!!! Nah. I felt it was beyond my ability, and maybe it truly was, for I had yet to let my nervous system consistently walk that neural pathway for it to become something it can do relatively easily.
But alongside the creation and sustenance of that neural pathway, now the identity is instilled within me – I am someone who can do composing too as a singer-songwriter. In fact, it is one of my hobbies that I invest time into every week, and this creativity is a manifestation of my expression. So!! Basically, this has become the norm for me, my new status quo. A growing tree that will thus naturally pile, stack and lengthen over time.
That’s where the real power lies in everything fr, if only you’d realise…
Another thing I do on an almost daily basis is writing posts and stuff regarding stuff like this, what I myself dub as higher perspectives… 🙂
Basically, it is so fully instilled in my identity already as this is who I am, and this is what I do, that I cannot but do it. For going back to that above formula…
That self-concept bundle of our identities, as supplemented by our memories, which make us who we are, are what we operate from…
Of course, you could also talk about other players like desire and personality. Let me talk briefly about them.
For desire, it’s kind of like what arrives within us to be fulfilled by us. Like see, just think about it this way.
Maybe you like to eat A. And you like to eat B too. But today, you just are not in an A mood! And eating A would not bring you that height or peak of joy that it can deliver you at its best. Instead, you are craving B, and B can achieve that for you!!!
Why then, I say, just go fulfil that desire. Today, B works for you, and A does not. Sure! Just eat B then if you can.
Meanwhile, consider this… Do you want to be a teacher or a dancer or an actor or a football player? Maybe one of these speaks to you and you really really want to do it. But the other three don’t speak to you at all! Why then! Consider this perspective. That desire is within you for a reason. Simply by virtue of its existence alone, you are rightly entitled to go pursue that desire for otherwise it would not be there. Talent might well follow that desire!
So in a sense, you could also see desire as a foretelling or prediction of the future.
Consider addictions though. You are addicted to smoking or gambling. Surely it’s wrong to say that you’re destined to be in debt or suffering gravely from lung cancer? But the key lies in what you enter from.
When you enter from a state of lack, you pursue completion that will never happen from a well that will never satiate your thirst. So calm yourself. Be cognisant of what you are doing, and self-aware. Be master of all those emotions and watch yourself. Don’t let yourself be caught up in a frenzy and thoroughly trapped in a mania, a slave to your emotions. For the right state of being you should enter things from is calmness, joy, love. Devotion even, following your heart and inner knowing.
Maybe the universe wants to experience this onion ring through you. Sure!! Feel free, and satiate that sudden desire that seemingly arise from nowhere. But beep! After you’ve had two or three? Poof, it’s gone! Why then, with a desire gone, you need not indulge anymore! You enjoyed it, thank it, bye!
People cannot help the desires they are born with. It is bestowed to us by the universe. For instance, some people just want children by default while some feel it’s totally optional to start a family and they have no such desire. Honestly, doing things based on what everyone around you is doing and such is just plain misguided. Because really, you yourself have your inner knowing as a top-notch! guru guidance system for what best serves you.
They say that authenticity is the highest ever frequency. Be true to you!
Next, personality. Why, everyone has affinities with different things, a most!! perfectly aligned thing and something that totally doesn’t work for you. So the universe is infinity, and that infinity can be split into a wide number of expressions. We simply naturally embody some of these expressions! This includes what draws your attention, for maybe you are drawn more to material stuff or maybe you totally feel spiritual stuff.
There’s no right or wrong. That’s just the expression of the universe that you are! Your only role is to live that expression as best you can. And our self-concept bundle is naturally constructed from this too. For instance, it may be that fashion/beauty is important to Person A, yet Person B likes to be active in sports. Or, maybe they can be a Person C! who likes both… like Eileen Gu. Well then! You naturally have that bundle, and you can only live from it.
Just let your life revolve around becoming that highest version, the highest expression of the authentic you. In the process, totally, 100% fully accept yourself as you are. See you as wholly perfect and enough as you are. A perspective I like is to see yourself as your greatest project. Always in progress, to attain your highest self. …Think of your past version.
For instance, just a decade ago, I spent 85-90% of my free time just reading fiction, mainly Chinese webnovels. I mean, even music was something recent for me. I only learnt singing in 2022… and got to create!!!!! music in 2024. What, I only started listening to Spotify fr in the past few years – I can count it on one hand! – and before it I totally didn’t listen to songs at all. But now I can sing 100s of songs on karaoke I think.
For exercise, I totally didn’t exercise at all a handful of years back and was even forced to go for the mandatory NSFit thingy after failing the IPPT. 🙁 But now? Well, I make it a point to do yoga every morning as much as possible as well as have 6250 steps as a baseline goal to achieve!!!
I can confidently, albeit somewhat bashfully say that I am a much!! more full, even magnetic??! version of myself than I was just a mere couple of years back.
Now, let me just give one or two examples of possible future growth areas to end off this article.
First of all, languages!!! 🙂 I am proud to say that today, on the 171th day of the streak since I started Duolingo, I’ve hit score/level 60 for Korean! That means I’m officially in the intermediate syllabus already!!!
Now first of all I only started because I had too much free time on my hands, but it seems like as good a side project as any, so I’m not gonna stop. Next, I totally don’t care how fast I am being it’s just for my own fulfilment only. And it’s totally up in the air if I’m gonna head on to say Spanish or Malay after this because hey, this polyglot thing is not! my full main identity. I’m just having it as one of many out of my bundle see! So it remains to be seen for any other languages…
For now, my goal is to hit score/level 100 aka CEFR B2 or upper intermediate for Korean. And today, I was utterly shocked to find out that there are literally 250 units in this new section, section 5? of Korean. I mean, there were only 60 units in section 4, aw… But still anyway! Truthfully, from the get-go, I had already decided that I’d start consuming media in Korean outside of Duolingo after hitting intermediate…
I actually watched half of episode one of that Korean drama, twenty-one twenty-five just now? And I quite liked it because it was about passion. Hehe. I also aim to maybe read some posts in Korean on Hellotalk. Learning Japanese while on exchange at Kyoto University, that was what I did!!! And finally, I suppose I’ll go learn some Korean from song lyrics too as I also did for some Japanese songs back then.
I’m not that ambitious as to want to read Korean novels in raws though, at least not in the near future at all! I still love Japanese the most and I try to slot in some time for reading Japanese light novel raws on the regular. 🙂
So yeah, growth. I love that.
Another thing is that I wanna take singing lessons again and be more serious at developing my music skills, but I’m only planning to do so after my showcase for the theatre class. Man, that voice acting yesterday for Gollum and Smeagol yesterday was super fun yo! I really loved it.
So again, the two things I just talked about relate to my singer-songwriter and polyglot identities respectively. Finally, I suppose I’ll also share that…
Maybe I’ll develop an artistic/theatre conoisseur identity as well. I mean being part of the theatre class, we have free tickets to plays. I’ve only ever been to one maybe last year though. It really isn’t very in my identity to go see! But hmm, now I’m actually considering this identity shift… (btw these free tickets may easily cost $80 even!!!)
When I was in film studies class back in secondary school, the teacher also talked about how people who study movies and such just naturally cannot help but scrutinise the mise en scene of a movie when watching it. Hey!! Yesterday the teacher gave a good reminder. First of all let’s just totally not care about whether or not the genre or theme of the play is up our alley. Actually, I could just go see it from a creator’s perspective, to distil what works and what doesn’t!!! That could help with future productions!
So that’s a thought on an identity to add for the sake of growth, which would naturally translate into a series of actions conducive to it, see.
Finally, consuming media.
First of all, I want to talk about consuming webnovels. It used to be like totally 85% of my free time! But now it doesn’t. So really, now I have an identity of being more spread out and diverse. More things besides only reading! But still!!!
I follow a couple of webnovels and derive satisfaction and joy from my ‘living through’ them, which I think is a really good and accurate way to describe it. So basically!! It’s best if I can stay updated!! on most of them and comfortably follow the daily updates as they are released. Maybe one or two on the side with many!! chapters unread, for binge reading and that acquisition of a new novel that I’m following. But that won’t be my all, not anymore.
Most importantly, I’ve entered shows into the equation.
My main goal/identity therein is basically: I just want to be a member of the mainstream that steadily consumes shows over time. You know what was mentioned earlier, about how a tree grows as it accumulates steadily, stacks!! over time? Yeah. I basically just want that. I don’t care about the productivity and how much I watch or whatnot, I’ll just be so happy if gradually this stream of what shows I’ve consumed is able to accumulate.
I’ve actually just subscribed to the most basic tier of Netflix. Actually, hm…
You know, sometimes there are crutches that help with things like this. For example! Something I did for a couple of weeks, and idrk if it’s still ongoing, was that I watched a movie a week. So steadily stacked up! Meanwhile maybe another one is to go sit at a cafe, watch on phone. Actually! You know there are even apps out there which lock!!! away some apps on your phone so you can’t use them! Or even restrict phone access!
So yeah, there are basically these methods too which help act as a crutch! so to speak to help push! your life in a certain direction that you wish to see it go, thereby aiding your growth. That might be a useful strategy.
But for now well, maybe a strategy I’ll use is webnovels around dinnertime, and shows after showering?? Hmm, Idk, it might work!!! And maybe I can still keep that movie thing around. We all need the good old trial & error when it comes to think like this!
And finally I will also mention that I’ve actually tried a couple of times really to get myself to listen to new songs and add them to Liked songs. Hasn’t really worked yet though in making it a regular go-to occurrence!
You know, atm a thought comes to mind. One thing I could do, which is also a good crutch of sorts, is to set a once/twice a week mark for it! In that case I’ll definitely do it, and maybe it’ll grow on me, and I’ll do it much!! more in the future! You know, actually, that’s what happened in the case of my weekly composing thingy. I had simply set it as once per week initially! It grew on me, and now it’s so!! much more instilled in identity.
So yeah, that’s a tip and trick that may work! …Hmm, come to think of it, I actually set Sunday as a piano day but I haven’t done it today yet. I probably am gonna do it later I guess, for it’s enjoyable enough! Not exactly super instilled in identity, but I don’t wanna skill level drop see.
And with that, I think I am very satisfied with today’s article. Man, I’ve sure worked hard! I’m gonna give myself a hearty pat on the back. 🙂 In conclusion I wanna end off by saying this – dream. Fulfil your potential.
BGM: A Whole New World 🙂
Growth is freaking amazing ~
Daimon out. Peace and love!!!