I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.

I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.

RUMI

Do you really care what other people think about you?

No matter how impervious we might believe that we are to what other people think about us, each and every one of us, is relatively susceptible to these considerations.

We might convince ourselves that this is not the case, but all it takes is one incredibly unflattering comment by someone else and in that moment, we learn how much we really do care, and how disappointed we are to discover that someone is hosting negative feelings towards us.

May I offer the concept that everybody is going to think what they think anyway and, as a result, wouldn’t it be a much healthier position to quickly become unconcerned and unmoved by what anyone else’s opinions of us are? 

If you are feeling a deep-seated joy in the things that you are doing, isn’t your own internal satisfaction sufficient? Does it really require approval or acknowledgment from others?

There are so many permutations to that statement… it can be torn apart and argued from numerous angles. The artist in any medium is always, presumably, looking for an audience. An audience gives them the feedback and satisfaction that what they are creating is appreciated and enjoyed by others.

Concurrently you could make a case for someone that is doing something that is incredibly harmful to others, in which case, you would argue that what other people think of them should be very important, such that they are Influenced or even forced to stop doing whatever it is that they are doing.

But in the broadest term of this particular aphorism, when you are feeling delight and joy in your pursuits and endeavors, wouldn’t it be so much more fulfilling to completely let go of every fear or trepidation about what others may or may not be feeling about what you are doing?

In that release of concern, you are empowered to immerse yourself even further in the creative exploration or endeavor that you are pursuing, and perhaps achieve even greater results.

The ability to have 100% artistic freedom in all that we do, and all that we express, enables us to dig as deep within ourselves as we are able, to manifest every aspect of that which we are feeling. Others will either find their appreciation of this, or not, but in either case, the metric by which we are gauging that which we are doing, must stem from our own internal barometer.

When you are able to live your life through those filters, you become considerably more free to utilize your personal gifts to their greatest potential. 

Happy Monday!

Please follow and like us:
Pin Share
Share:
Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!