Absolutely love this. I recently came across the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which is simply defined as the balance between what you love, what the world needs, what you can get paid for and what you’re good at.
I too have a few different seemingly siloed endeavours, and it’s been on my mind how or whether to unify!! Thanks for this, great read. 😀
Taking back your own life is completely outrageous! I mean it's your life in the first place and you should never have left it in the hands of others.
This is not only a problem in the USA, but also in Europe. We call it affirming the norms of society. I also struggle with that a lot. Iit's not easy to get it out of your system.
But transforming, emerging as the ‘new you’ like a butterfly from its cocoon, is a journey worth embarking on. I’m eager to witness your metamorphosis.
This piece resonated deeply. The idea that we need to "Make an Instagram account...and then a separate one for writing, and then another one...Do the same on YouTube. Develop your brand"...etc. In other words, we need to be expert techies and marketers and excellent writers just to stand a chance on this platform. It all stands in direct opposition to the idea of just being ourselves, warts and all. It typecasts our creativity, our viewpoints, our potential and ultimately our contribution to the world.
After being advised by a Substack marketing guru to "find a niche and stick with it," I recently expressed myself to my readers thusly:
"'Boring'"! I thought. It's not in my writer-nature to restrict myself. At least not when wearing my essayist/columnist hat.
Yet that’s the standard template. Choose a niche. Find your tribe. Conquer the world. And remember: online surfers and shoppers give websites about 2 seconds before clicking away if it’s not the “product” or “answer” they want.
But I'm not selling widgets or answers here.
As one friend told me, I'm really selling myself. I am the niche."
I went on to compare my Substack to the old legacy media columnists who (while having hobby horses) manage to cast their “topic nets” widely because it's their "take" and "style" that attracts readers.
Here's to bucking trends come what may! Btw - I like how you have a separate tab for On Writing. Maybe separate tabs help those of us whose topics vary widely.
I have some disparate interests that made playing the obligatory author social media a burdensome juggling act. On substack it's been nice because I feel more free to just write about what I want, where I can have fiction writing, video games, and mythology all in one place.
Do you mean by merging your fractured selves that they'll all get unified into one consistent self? And you act like that same self in every circumstance? Or by saying that this mix is your self?
I personally think we don't have one unified, permanent self with a constant personality. Instead, all these different selves are different versions of who we are. But they're all you.
I suspect I've lived a lot longer than you have. So I'm sharing my authentic take on this (which of course is just how I deal with it). Competition can be good if it prompts us to strive for more. Sports is probably the place this manifests itself the most. But I spent a lot of time thinking about Emily Dickenson and publication. You are right that you can't be authentic if you worry about pleasing publishers (especially if you aren't liberal--I'm a libertarian stuck in a world dominated by political liberals). And I spent years telling my kids to push the edges of their own envelope and not compare themselves to others. But the truth is that you have to do your best work and let go of outcomes completely. That is beyond our control in every endeavor in life and the only way to measure success is by monitoring our process.
My dad, who really wasn't a bad parent, asked me once what was more important, the process or the result and I said the process. He said I was wrong. I knew even then that I wasn't. Everything is process. But it depends. You can write ad nauseum and never consider anyone else. But You can't play card games or pool or ping pong without competing with someone else. And that isn't all bad. There was a girl on our company softball team when I was working in California years ago. She was awful. Just awful. I couldn't imagine why she didn't quit, it was so humiliating, but she said all she wanted was to get better. And she did! It wasn't much but it WAS better! She couldn't even connect with the ball when she started, but by the end, he did. It went nowhere, but she improved. And she didn't have to withdraw from the game in order to accomplish it. She learned from us. I never forgot her.
I've wrestled with this concept all my life. If you aren't authentic, you'll never be successful anyway, but that doesn't have to stop you from having heroes, mentors, and from celebrating the success of others. We don't have to withdraw from the game to be authentic. But living in a world without any competition isn't realistic or desirable either. We just have to realize and truly believe that outcomes have nothing to do with our process. And life is ALL process. Every moment of it.
Kerry Jane: With Kiwiwriter47 and You, I stare cluelessly at the logarithmic equation, while I take wonder and joy in your own column on All arising from Nothing, and Kiwiwriter47, not at least with his four-part series on the Holocaust (NEVER FORGET, NEVER AGAIN!!).
I like the idea of recognizing the “games” there are to play. The ones we are told to play and the ones we can CHOOSE to play. The ones we make up our own rules. I’d love a follow up post to see how you manage this merging in a few months. And I think???? The answer to the math question is option 4. Don’t quote me :)
Absolutely love this. I recently came across the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which is simply defined as the balance between what you love, what the world needs, what you can get paid for and what you’re good at.
I too have a few different seemingly siloed endeavours, and it’s been on my mind how or whether to unify!! Thanks for this, great read. 😀
Taking back your own life is completely outrageous! I mean it's your life in the first place and you should never have left it in the hands of others.
This is not only a problem in the USA, but also in Europe. We call it affirming the norms of society. I also struggle with that a lot. Iit's not easy to get it out of your system.
But transforming, emerging as the ‘new you’ like a butterfly from its cocoon, is a journey worth embarking on. I’m eager to witness your metamorphosis.
This piece resonated deeply. The idea that we need to "Make an Instagram account...and then a separate one for writing, and then another one...Do the same on YouTube. Develop your brand"...etc. In other words, we need to be expert techies and marketers and excellent writers just to stand a chance on this platform. It all stands in direct opposition to the idea of just being ourselves, warts and all. It typecasts our creativity, our viewpoints, our potential and ultimately our contribution to the world.
After being advised by a Substack marketing guru to "find a niche and stick with it," I recently expressed myself to my readers thusly:
"'Boring'"! I thought. It's not in my writer-nature to restrict myself. At least not when wearing my essayist/columnist hat.
Yet that’s the standard template. Choose a niche. Find your tribe. Conquer the world. And remember: online surfers and shoppers give websites about 2 seconds before clicking away if it’s not the “product” or “answer” they want.
But I'm not selling widgets or answers here.
As one friend told me, I'm really selling myself. I am the niche."
I went on to compare my Substack to the old legacy media columnists who (while having hobby horses) manage to cast their “topic nets” widely because it's their "take" and "style" that attracts readers.
Here's to bucking trends come what may! Btw - I like how you have a separate tab for On Writing. Maybe separate tabs help those of us whose topics vary widely.
I love this and feel the struggle and am excited to see you experiment!
I have some disparate interests that made playing the obligatory author social media a burdensome juggling act. On substack it's been nice because I feel more free to just write about what I want, where I can have fiction writing, video games, and mythology all in one place.
Do you mean by merging your fractured selves that they'll all get unified into one consistent self? And you act like that same self in every circumstance? Or by saying that this mix is your self?
I personally think we don't have one unified, permanent self with a constant personality. Instead, all these different selves are different versions of who we are. But they're all you.
You arrange truth rather beautifully.
I’m totally with you. Funny synchronicity, this theme was so intense for me this past month that I wrote about it as well: https://poetx.substack.com/p/authenticity-reigns-supreme
Authenticity is worth fighting for. The picture about marketing and quality says a lot!
What a great concept! Ikigai!
I suspect I've lived a lot longer than you have. So I'm sharing my authentic take on this (which of course is just how I deal with it). Competition can be good if it prompts us to strive for more. Sports is probably the place this manifests itself the most. But I spent a lot of time thinking about Emily Dickenson and publication. You are right that you can't be authentic if you worry about pleasing publishers (especially if you aren't liberal--I'm a libertarian stuck in a world dominated by political liberals). And I spent years telling my kids to push the edges of their own envelope and not compare themselves to others. But the truth is that you have to do your best work and let go of outcomes completely. That is beyond our control in every endeavor in life and the only way to measure success is by monitoring our process.
My dad, who really wasn't a bad parent, asked me once what was more important, the process or the result and I said the process. He said I was wrong. I knew even then that I wasn't. Everything is process. But it depends. You can write ad nauseum and never consider anyone else. But You can't play card games or pool or ping pong without competing with someone else. And that isn't all bad. There was a girl on our company softball team when I was working in California years ago. She was awful. Just awful. I couldn't imagine why she didn't quit, it was so humiliating, but she said all she wanted was to get better. And she did! It wasn't much but it WAS better! She couldn't even connect with the ball when she started, but by the end, he did. It went nowhere, but she improved. And she didn't have to withdraw from the game in order to accomplish it. She learned from us. I never forgot her.
I've wrestled with this concept all my life. If you aren't authentic, you'll never be successful anyway, but that doesn't have to stop you from having heroes, mentors, and from celebrating the success of others. We don't have to withdraw from the game to be authentic. But living in a world without any competition isn't realistic or desirable either. We just have to realize and truly believe that outcomes have nothing to do with our process. And life is ALL process. Every moment of it.
Does that even exist?
Kerry Jane: With Kiwiwriter47 and You, I stare cluelessly at the logarithmic equation, while I take wonder and joy in your own column on All arising from Nothing, and Kiwiwriter47, not at least with his four-part series on the Holocaust (NEVER FORGET, NEVER AGAIN!!).
you post stupidity so no, im not coming with you. I do compare myself to you and your idiot post about Huxley. i don't follow morons.
I like the idea of recognizing the “games” there are to play. The ones we are told to play and the ones we can CHOOSE to play. The ones we make up our own rules. I’d love a follow up post to see how you manage this merging in a few months. And I think???? The answer to the math question is option 4. Don’t quote me :)