Feelin a bit dreamy... enjoy!
Hi, I’m Vinh Nguyen and I’m the creator of this blog. I guess I could say I’m a dreamer, a philosopher, a person that has been really driven to look for truth and beauty in things and in life in the broadest sense. Much of these attitudes have been influenced by my own life experiences as well as my curiosity and exploration into education, art, music, design, technology, human potential and wellbeing.
Monday, March 21, 2016
A letter to a friend and to myself
Hi WL,
I’m Vinh. I’m a male from SoCal. First off, I would like to
commend you for your courage in the rawness and authenticity of your many
post/blogs including that of Medium. It’s my first time in reaching out to a
fellow blogger, but what really initiate it was your strikingly similar life
thoughts/ philosophy/ experiences to my own. Maybe, it’s too premature to say.
But on the surface it is a bit awkward and cool at the same time to meet
someone that I feel I could relate a lot to.
A lot of the things I have to say below I believe in one way
or another you already know. You could take it for a grain of salt. But I would
like to share my personal thoughts with you and how it has enriched my life.
I know you’re going through a self-reflection/ renewal stage
as I am going through one myself. I have started a blog to document this
process. I guess you could read my blog to find out. ;) Anyways, the process
hasn’t been all without bumps in the road. A multitude of emotions are running
high including ones with high optimism coupled with ones of doubt and
uncertainty. I am really happy that you’ve find the insight, and courage to go
forward with this new journey of yours. Despite all the struggles, I have found
this time period invaluable into building up who you truly are and what you
want become. For me, the experience so far has been truly healing,
rejuvenating, and inspiring. As you probably know, keeping a blog can be a
source of healing in its own right. You heal by reflecting and by making amends
with your past. You rejuvenate by understanding your shortcomings, and by
looking forward to the future with hope and optimism. You inspire yourself and
others by sharing your insights and thoughts. It’s sort of like
self-affirmation. One of the powers of writing is that it is self-tool for
questioning and analyzing your own thoughts as well as for the creation of new
insights and knowledge. Oddly enough, it was something I only found recently.
We and countless others have gone through many emotional
pains. In some way, I am grateful for my
own severity in the sense that we all know there are others who are in more
dire situations than us. That in a sense could be a small source of comfort for
us. The negative thoughts do creep up at
times, but I try to use those thoughts as a frame of reference. What I mean by
this is that it provides you with two different mind frames to choose from. The
one that is negative, isolated, careless, debilitating, sickening, stagnant…etc,
the not so good part of You. The other one is positive, loving, creative,
self-love and respect, lover of life and goodness, see the goodness and
potential in yourself and others, full of vitality, health and optimism,
progressive, dreamer of better days, empathy and sympathy, a fighter not a
quitter…essentially the “better part of You.” It’s a no-brainer that everybody
would choose the later or at least I hope. I believe everybody is entitled to
the “better part of You” mindset even if you don’t you want it or don’t think
you deserve it. I want YOU to believe that you’re entitled to it. I want YOU to
fight for it.
The internal world can be a harsh place. The internal are
your own internal thoughts. Self-degradation, self-pity, self-doubt, and
self-defeating thoughts among others are all hurdles we all have to go through
in this road of life. The second we say I can’t or I won’t or I’m worth it or I’m
not good enough we inflict an emotional wound to ourselves. A lot of times this emotional wound never
really heal and we bare this wound throughout our whole lives. This wound
becomes infected which can sap us the various joys and experiences of life. It
can prevent us from realizing what we’re capable off or what our true
potentials are. Give yourself the chance to heal your mental wounds. A lot of
times we are the ones that hold ourselves back. I advocate that if you let
yourself become open, vulnerable and be a maverick of new experiences it can
lead to something worthwhile or something you would never imagine had you not
attempted it. Like the old saying goes, “What the worst that could happen?”
Additionally, a major
part in the up keeping of a healthy mind is a healthy body. So it is essential
to be aware and mindful of the actions that is both beneficial and detrimental
to physical health. It will definitely
take some work on your part and no miracle will happen overnight. But give
yourself the mental space for the “better part of You” to be seeded in your
mind because you are entitled to it!
So give yourself the chance to succeed or the opportunity to
at least “[Fall] with style” Like Buzz in Toy Story.
The external world can be an equally challenging place.
Social norms or preconceived notions are the various obstacles that may come
into battle with our values and beliefs. That is why it is so important to clearly
define our own belief system. I would say it’s the life’s blood of our
existence. It gives us meaning to our life, to our work, and can commands our
daily thoughts and actions. It’s what makes us whole as a person as well as
unique. I would assume that many of the world’s innovations and breakthroughs
came from people who were unique in their right. Like many have probably said before me, I
continue to believe that the people who remain unfazed by external pressures,
that live and act on their own values and beliefs remain the happiest and have
the most fulfilling lives. That is why it’s so important to not deny yourself
of your values and beliefs. In fact, it is equally important to forge these
values and beliefs onto the world. It could literally change the world or at
least an individual. It could save a life otherwise stuck or blinded by our
societal expectations.
I believe everybody is entitled to a happy and fulfilling
life. You should believe that for yourself. No one said life was easy. This entitlement
will not come without the price of hard work, perseverance and courage. Heck,
sometimes the hardest part of the day is getting yourself in the right mindset
when you start your day. The second hardest is literally getting yourself out
of bed. Haha. I can’t always say I am “the
better part of” myself, and sometimes I fail at that. But at least now an inner
voice tells me I could always do better.
Learning from mistakes is worth noting. To acknowledge the
mistake is one thing and trying not to repeat it is another. This is where we
hold ourselves accountable. To put it in a lighter term, if we truly value and
respect ourselves, our time and effort then we shouldn’t be in action of
self-repeating deflating actions. A buffer towards this is where “the better
part of” you can come into play. Sometimes it’s good to remind yourself of the “the
better part of” you so that we can be redirected in the right direction. I try
to strive for it EACH AND EVERY DAY. Yes, rain or shine through thick and thin
through sickness and in health. Well, it may sound like a wedding vow and
essentially it is… it is to yourself. You make a vow to yourself to love
yourself whole heartedly and to take care of yourself in all aspects. I believe
if you stay truly faithful and act upon your values, you won’t fail yourself at
the end of it all.
I am driven each and every day that “I” can and will make a
positive difference in this world. If not the world at this moment, then be a
positive influence to yourself or the people around you. I acknowledge and take
pride in my uniqueness. I value my presence and existence in this world. I view
myself and others as gifts to this world, all with special gifts, talents and
skills. I could learn as much from them as they could from me. The world has
various people with various potentials. Some have tapped into them while there
are others who have not realized or acknowledged it within themselves.
Furthermore, there are those whose potentials are hindered by various
unfortunate circumstances or means. The untapped potentials within and outside
of schools, the pushed-under-the rug potentials, the trampled potentials, the
self-defeating potentials, the potentials affected by war, and poverty and
among others are the things I fight for. I believe in the collective effort.
And it’s my belief that when we value ourselves and help reveal and support the
potentials of others the world will truly be a better place.
I hope to be reminded of all the beauty of this world. At
least for me, I haven’t come across a person besides yourself that romanticizes
so much about life itself. Then again, I only know a handful of people. We
think too deeply and sometimes are trapped in own minds. But it is through this
introspective approach that we gain our strength in seeing with clarity and
wisdom through all the noise and chaos. We need time, space, and silence to
ponder and explore. I guess it’s a silent code we all share. I think we’re all
trying to forge our own values into reality itself. It may take some time,
others who pursue this path might fail, others might succeed, but it’s the
pursuit that keeps us all sane. We want to live in the moment, or at least try
to. Our life’s works trumps everything else. We hope for better days and leave
every rock unturned. We feel we are called for a higher mission. We like to
think Big ideas and/or would like to grasp the broad picture of things. We try
to use our skills and creativity to sympathize and empathize with others. We
believe in the potential of human potential. Ambiguity excites us and normality
bore us. We appreciate beauty and try to see beauty in all things as well as
try to bathe in its glory.
In ending, I hope you could nurture and exercise the strength
to always be reminded that “the better part of You” is always inside of you. If
there is one thing that you’re entitled to then it should encompass all that
make you wake up each day energized, to start the day and end the day with a smile,
to romanticize about yourself and about life, to be able to express yourself
and connect with others, to love and to be loved, to be creative, to be open to
new ideas and experiences, and to have actions and thoughts align with your
values and beliefs
There’s no time to waste! So get out there and be “the
better part of You!!”
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