Blog Post #9: The Art of Wu Wei

In high school, I was this cringy kid trying to be liked by everyone else. I hung out with these supposedly "cool" kids and do the stupid things they do, even if it was mean. It did not get me very far, my grades plummeted, got sent to the office; and when my parents found out about this and that I was hanging out with these types of kids, I got the butt whoppings of the year and grounded for about two months. In these grounded months, I realized maybe I should stop trying to be like the "cool" kids I was hanging out with and be more like myself; maybe I do not need to be friend with everyone at school but rather have a few close friends who accept me just the crazy and weird way I am. I believe this moment was an example of Wu Wei, to stop taking the upstream path and just follow the current. I wanted friendship; but instead of pretending to be someone I was not, which was difficult and uncomfortable, I was being myself and attracted friends that are more suitable and support me just the weird way I am.