My accent is very uncharacteristic neutral. American, yes, but different from where I’m from.
I grew up in the south, where the southern drawl is so thick you need a machete to cut your way through it. My parents have it. Their parents definitely had some twang going on. But for me, not so much. My best guess why I don’t is TV and film. Growing up with 90s cartoons, and a world slowly coming online gives you a broader perspective of what people sound like across the world.
I was also constantly mimicking voices, so unconsciously I noticed that how people speak is a skill and aesthetics that can be changed.
Lately, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of “influence”. Not influencers, per se, but how we pick up values, personality traits, interests, and lifestyles from people we surround ourselves with.
Do you really like punk rock? Or do you like it because a cool friend from middle school liked it? Does it matter?
Do you really dislike country music or are you just rebelling against your parents?
Does it matter where our influences come from?
It’s a big question to ask, with lots of nuances.
My answer right now is—
Mostly. Absolutely. Probably. Definitely.
I have an old friend who’s never like reading. Ever since I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him talk about a book he’s liked. In school, he would read a book from cover to cover—meaning the front cover and the back cover and nothing in between. I get it, he’s a people guy. He’d rather have a conversation or watch a show then read. And school reading assignments obviously left a bad taste in his mouth. But I love reading! Half of what I know is from books. I can’t imagine who I would be if I wasn’t voraciously passionate about books.
Small things can influence us in a big way. Little decisions that set us on a certain path. It doesn’t take much to push us down a path that leads us to places we don’t want to be. And on the other hand, a random whim or chance encounters can lead to open doors and wonderful opportunities. Friend of a kind of situation. Stumbling into someone at a coffee shop or bar that leads to your life calling. Or—just leads to your next oat milk latte.
There’s certainly a heavy sprinkle of chance when it comes to influencing.
However, that doesn’t me we are helpless to its power.
Instead of thinking of ourselves like a leaf on the wind, aimlessly spinning around, following wherever the wind takes us, think of it like you’re an origami paper airplane. You can cut, follow, and weave through the wind. You can change yourself, and therefore have a hand in where you’re going.
Not the best analogy, but you get the idea.
It comes down to willingness.
Be open to change and possibility. Try things before you judge them or write them off. Curate your influences. Surround yourself with a higher quality of influences. And examine and question why you do what you do.
Are you making a decision out of curiosity or good admirations, or are you doing it everyone around you is?
STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1145
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