SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
Why I admire BTS?
LOVE YOURSELF, SPEAK YOURSELF
I know, I know, I am late for BTS.
I love music ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬. I had lots of time to explore a wide variety of music genres for the past months. I found BTS through my YouTube recommendations. I thought to myself- Who are these guys? Why are they famous? I started researching a bit about them and slowly fell in love with them and the music they create.
Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism.
There’s something I noted about BTS, they are different and what differentiates them from other artists is that their focus is mainly targeted towards the younger generation. They do sing about love and dating but their lyrics more often focus on everyday struggles, mental health, self-reflection, etc. Their personal stories are so inspiring which gives us hope to try and try even if the whole world doesn’t believe in the efforts we put in or the person we wanna become.
I wanna point out a few instances which moved my heart and I hope it inspires you too!
BTS speech at the United Nations | UNICEF
If you are going through an existential crisis, I would highly recommend you guys to listen to this heart-touching and powerful message delivered by Kim Namjoon (RM), leader of BTS.
He started off the speech talking about himself. He quoted,
I would look up at the night sky ✨ in wonder and dream the dreams of a boy. I used to imagine that I was a superhero, saving the world.
Everyone once wanted to be a superhero. Haven’t we all followed the shows of superheroes saving the world, imagining ourselves in their shoes? How wonderful our childhood must’ve been!
As we grew up, we got tied up with the so-called norms of society. We are afraid of being judged, seeking acceptance from others for the lives we live and the things we do. We started looking at ourselves and the world through the eyes of others.
My heart stopped and my eyes closed shut. So, like this, I, we, all lost our names. We became like ghosts. 😐
Can we all take a moment to think about whether we want to fit into the standards set by others or want to be the potter of our lives, breaking and molding ourselves into the person we want to be?
There were two main things that I learned from this speech, which changed my life.
I. Learn to listen to your own voice
There was a small voice 🗣 in me that said, ‘Wake up, man, and listen to yourself!” But it took me a long time to hear music calling my name.
I have always had a disturbed mind, rushing with random thoughts that were not that useful. I never listened to my inner self on what I want or how I felt. I was overwhelmed by all these thoughts that I said to myself, “Wait, Lemme, calm myself” When I decided to quiet down the unnecessary thoughts, I slowly knew I was becoming better, but how? Subconsciously I started listening to my inner self, started working on the things I have always wanted to do, which made me happy. That’s when I realized how crucial it was to listen to myself.
We almost always fail to listen to our inner voice. Sometimes, all we need to do is have faith in the hunch we get-to do something or to avoid something. Following your inner voice will lead you to the truth of what’s best for you ❤.
II. It’s okay 👌 to make mistakes
We need to learn to acknowledge our past mistakes, be open and honest in learning from it. People generally want to become completely a new person forgetting their past self, but this speech is encouraging us not to feel ashamed by those mistakes or your past self, instead own it up, be the same but a better person. Owning up to the mistakes we did, taking responsibility for those mistakes, learning and unlearning from it is the best quality a person could possess.
III. Speak Yourself
Once you’ve learned to love yourself the next best thing you could do is, speak for yourself. Learn to say no. Open up to challenge yourself. Speaking yourself is not just verbal talking but also the actions and the implementations of your views, your dreams!
Don’t be afraid of the judgment, but be afraid of your inability to pursue and doing the things you love.
Ephiphany (Jin of BTS)
One of my favorite songs.
“The lyrics are a literal epiphany about the fact that to love others, you first need to master the process of being able to love and accept yourself” — Rolling Stone India
There was a time when I was seeking acceptance and seeking love from others. I needed someone to validate my existence. I hid my true self and built a wall around me.
This song hit me emotionally when the artist began to sing, “I am the one I should love in this world.” It made me rethink about the validation I sought from others. Who was I hiding my true self from? Why do I need to hide? It made me understand that maybe I am not perfect, but I can be me! I understood loving myself and accepting myself for the way I am, accepting my flaws can be a good way to build myself into a better person.
Never forget, you can’t love others without loving yourself first. Self love is the best form of love ❤.
