Today Is My Birthday. Here’s What I Learned This Year.
Life is momentous, make the most of it.
As today is my birthday, I wanted to share some insights that I’ve learned over the past year.
Life is long and short. Make sure to enjoy it.
The other day I went with my friend to the Japanese gardens here in South Florida. I’ve never been to Japanese gardens before, but it was quite the educational experience.
A big thing I learned is that everything in the Japanese garden is made on purpose. This hit me like a ton of bricks.
After seeing this insight, I realized that even the garden itself is a metaphor on life. If I were to walk in a straight circle around the perimeter of the park — or across and back — it would probably take me 15–20 minutes. But no, it took about an hour to walk through the whole thing.
Every aspect of the Japanese garden is unique, whether it was a different tree, view, waterway, etc. To grasp the whole experience, you had to stay still and enjoy.
Life is both short and long at the same time. We can’t control when it ends, but it ends. While it’s here, we should enjoy it.
Education can equal corruption
The other day I had a conversation with another friend about group think and communities. As someone who is an outsider in almost any community I’ve ever been in, it’s tempting to succumb to group think to fit in.
No, I will not fit in.
I love myself too much to give up on what I stand for to do what a community tells me is the “right way” of doing something.
In fact, there’s no “right way” of doing anything.
If there was a right way of doing anything, what’s explains the lives of legendary figures such as Robert Johnson?
Robert Johnson was a blues guitarist in Mississippi who had a hard and short life. (Some say he’s part of the “27 Club”, the group of musicians who died at 27.)
While his life is generally a mystery, what is agreed on is that he sucked at guitar compared to other musicians; left his town for a year or so; and came back doing tricks on the guitar that no one in the world has seen before. In the documentary that I learned of this, even other legends like Keith Richards remarked that his playing sounded like two guitars at once.
You know you’re a legend when other legends call you a legend.
If Robert Johnson followed the rules, we probably wouldn’t have the man who influenced The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.
Can you imagine a world without the three?
Education as corruption prevents innovation, and if you’re already corrupted, do yourself a favor and continue reading this essay. We are here for you to unlearn, so you can be your best original self.
They know you can do it. They’re just too insecure to do it themselves.
It’s true.
I’ve had so many people, especially in the past year, who’ve doubted me and my ambitions even after proving them wrong.
When you prove someone wrong, though, it doesn’t change anything. You should only work on something for yourself out of love, because the reward of proving someone wrong doesn’t last as long as love does.
When I stopped trying to prove people wrong and began doing what I do out of love, I started to see the world for what it is.
People who doubt you are not bad people (in general). They may come across that way.
But the reality is much darker than being a bad person.
They’re doubting you because they don’t believe in themselves to do what you’re aiming to do.
Once you realize that 99% of doubters in the world fall under this category, you’ll have the motivation you need to not let anyone’s dumb words stop you from changing the world.
Do what you will with my words. I never promised that this was an easy read.
Happy birthday to me and all the other September 1st babies.
❤️ — Noah
P.S. Thank you for the birthday wishes!
P.P.S.: The documentary is ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads, you can stream it on Netflix. To learn more about Robert Johnson if you don’t have Netflix, read this.
Want to read some of my favorite articles on Medium? I put them in my free newsletter every week. Subscribe here!