❤️🔥 a love letter to the one reading this (you)
005 just a small little reminder that your existence is important and an inspiration
Rather listen than read? Listen on Spotify or any other platform!1
☄️
dearest reader,
Your existence is important.
By being simply who you are without any further explanation or expectation, you validate someone else’s life.
This idea came to me when I saw a friend write about her personal dissatisfaction with her work. When compared to others, she didn’t feel as if she used her platform, voice, and art productively to spark conversations on social activism or rally change. And while I admired and fully supported her newfound aspiration for standing up, I also wanted her to know… she didn’t need to feel that her existing body of work (which consisted of warm paintings and tender photographs inspired and captured through her travels and unique cultural background) were meaningless by comparison.
Because they aren’t.
By simply being herself, exploring her interests, and creating joy, she is living proof that a person with any parallels to her story can live a beautiful life. And as someone who shares her narrative of an Asian upbringing, a passion for creating art, as well as a love for travel and cultural immersion, when I see her gifts to the world depicting any of these shared elements, it makes me feel connected to her (and, by extension, humanity) and deeply understood.
But even if our lives did not eclipse each other’s as perfectly, some part of your story would still resonate with mine (and vice versa)! Because there exists a universal empathy for trauma and strife, just as there exists a universal familiarity for feelings of love (whether it is for something — a hobby, a place, a culture, or an idea — or for someone — platonically or romantically).
This letter isn’t meant to discourage you from improving or developing yourself. Rather, if it is human nature to cycle between forgetting and remembering, this is your reminder:
Your existence validates someone else’s, and you are an inspiration.
love,
a very forgetful & chaotic creative chimera
ps. Yes, this letter was also supposed to double as a reminder to myself. :’)
pps. For exactly this reason, I have been struck by an idea to start a podcast that will also double as a way for me to work on something I feel very passionate and strongly about: creating connections and community! Here is the synopsis I’ve been working on…
Don’t Be Strangers ✨☺️ is a social experiment for learning to create meaningful connections together via collaborative conversations! Statistics show that (1) social isolation is on the rise and (2) the number of close friends someone would say that they have is decreasing. Considering that having a strong social network is one of the key factor in general happiness, overall health, and prolonged longevity, my hope is that this podcast will serve to bring awareness to the issue as well as provide a platform to start solving the problem, together!
Topics covered will range from everything under the sun and be as unique as the personalities and interests of each co-host. I will ask every guest: “How do you define a ‘stranger’ and at what point do they convert from being one to being not?”
Anyone of any background is welcomed to apply to co-host! The catch is, once you’ve co-hosted an episode, you are also volunteering to co-host at least one additional future episode with another guest (aka. having a 3-way conversation with a new stranger)!
Snail mail, feedback, and ‘hi’s’ are much welcomed! Feel free to write in at donotbestrangers@gmail.com, send a dm to @dontbestrangers on instagram, or even record a voice note directly at https://anchor.fm/dontbestrangers ✨☺️
Speak soon! 💌 With love,
Hey! You’ve got mail! This is letter number 5 of Love Letters from a Creative Chimera: a newsletter & microblog capturing things, people, and ideas that have made me fall absolutely in love with life over and over again. My name is XinYi and this podcast is where I read my letters for those who prefer to consume their content through audio rather than reading.
I feel really strongly about this particular topic and letter so, without any further delays…
[ 💌read full letter here! ]
The reason why I feel so strongly about this topic is because I feel that by simply being good to ourselves and taking care of and protecting our mental health, we naturally generate more good energy. And that good energy is infectious so if you’re happy, you’ll probably uplift those around you. And if they’re uplifted, the energy keeps being passed forward. Everything they say about being able to produce your best work when you’re filled with joy — I 100% believe in it and hence why I feel like the greatest charity we can provide to the world is self development and self improvement. If this resonates with you, please reach out on instagram @creative.chimera or visit my website at https://desktop.creative-chimera.com! Let’s keep in touch!