Be Myself? I'd Rather Die
Over time, the dissonance, the sense of never being who you really are, starts to bother you. A lot. In fact, it finally becomes intolerable. Even though everything may look fine to the people around you, your essential self is torn and dying.
Martha Beck • Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live
We try to fit in, and we neither convince ourselves that we do, nor, we suspect, those around us. At those times, what makes us different seems only to be the crushingly disappointing absence of what bonds everyone else together. Mill says that this difference is something to be celebrated. We may not have what they have, and this is a very good th
... See moreDerren Brown • Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
We inhabit many different versions of a changing self. The suggestion to be yourself may be too general to be of much use. There’s being yourself as an artist, being yourself with your family, being yourself at work, being yourself with friends, being yourself in times of crisis or in times of peace, and being yourself for yourself, when by yoursel
... See moreRick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
But nothing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
This is more difficult, because there is no zeitgeist to read, no template to follow, no mask to wear. Set aside what y... See more
This is more difficult, because there is no zeitgeist to read, no template to follow, no mask to wear. Set aside what y... See more
Anna Quindlen • 1999 Mount Holyoke Commencement Speech
How to Drop Out
ranprieur.com
Growing up, we turn to our parents, friends, teachers, and communities for guidance like our lives depend on it. Because it does. We have no idea yet how to live, how to learn, how to dress, how to be. Through being explicitly told what to do and implicitly observing what we should do, we learn to earn love and acceptance by living in accordance wi... See more