"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
We hear advice on being ourselves often. It is a difficult thing to disagree with, so we agree. After all, how can we be anyone but ourselves? Simple, pure wisdom. Wisdom that goes unnoticed, not because it isn’t recognized, but because we do not see ourselves. All we see are representations of ourselves, remnants and relics of the past. Institutions, governments, corporations, cultures, nations, traditions are all physical expressions of our thoughts. They represent, in one way or another, a set of ideals or beliefs that we hold dear. There is some sense of belongingness when we identify with one of these organizations. We support this cause and oppose that cause. In doing so, we define ourselves by identifying with a collective. Democrat, republican, pro-life, pro-abortion, gay, straight, man, woman. The labels are endless. The more attached we become to these labels, the less we see ourselves. Beliefs and ideas are by their nature unchanging, lifeless structures. Life, on the other hand, cares little for consistency and is in a state of perpetual change. If we conform to these ideas, if we hold ourselves to some concept and insist we are a certain way, we inevitably blend into the structure and lose sight of our undefinable essence. Like the structures, we become lifeless, static.
Being yourself can be stated simply: forget all that you know about yourself, die in each moment so that you may live in the next. If you must express yourself, do so and then be done with it. Do not remain in it. Define the structure, but do not allow it to define you. Do not try to please anyone by being someone else, not your friend, your enemy, your teacher, your parent. Do not try to be a role model. Do not try to be an expert. Above all, do not try to be yourself. Be empty so that all that is left is you. Observe how your thoughts lead you astray, how you derive pleasure from social recognition. Observe its delusion, observe how it obscures you from being yourself. To be anything but yourself is to repress life itself.
We hear advice on being ourselves often. It is a difficult thing to disagree with, so we agree. After all, how can we be anyone but ourselves? Simple, pure wisdom. Wisdom that goes unnoticed, not because it isn’t recognized, but because we do not see ourselves. All we see are representations of ourselves, remnants and relics of the past. Institutions, governments, corporations, cultures, nations, traditions are all physical expressions of our thoughts. They represent, in one way or another, a set of ideals or beliefs that we hold dear. There is some sense of belongingness when we identify with one of these organizations. We support this cause and oppose that cause. In doing so, we define ourselves by identifying with a collective. Democrat, republican, pro-life, pro-abortion, gay, straight, man, woman. The labels are endless. The more attached we become to these labels, the less we see ourselves. Beliefs and ideas are by their nature unchanging, lifeless structures. Life, on the other hand, cares little for consistency and is in a state of perpetual change. If we conform to these ideas, if we hold ourselves to some concept and insist we are a certain way, we inevitably blend into the structure and lose sight of our undefinable essence. Like the structures, we become lifeless, static.
Being yourself can be stated simply: forget all that you know about yourself, die in each moment so that you may live in the next. If you must express yourself, do so and then be done with it. Do not remain in it. Define the structure, but do not allow it to define you. Do not try to please anyone by being someone else, not your friend, your enemy, your teacher, your parent. Do not try to be a role model. Do not try to be an expert. Above all, do not try to be yourself. Be empty so that all that is left is you. Observe how your thoughts lead you astray, how you derive pleasure from social recognition. Observe its delusion, observe how it obscures you from being yourself. To be anything but yourself is to repress life itself.
In this video above, Neil DeGrasse Tyson says "The greatest of people that have ever been in society, they were never versions of someone else. They were themselves"