#aplang16sullivan

Once we start being, we can finally stop acting.

When I was first asked to respond to this quote, I thought it was completely absurd, why wouldn’t you want to be yourself, however after mulling it over i understand it. As a teenager I spend a lot of time not knowing who I am, and struggling to know why my brain is working the way it is. However, because I am young I am constantly learning new things about myself and I have to not only learn who I am, I have to accept myself for who I am and I have to find the strength to be myself. However, once I become come comfortable in that version of myself and I am happy being that version of myself I can move onto the next version of myself, I no longer have to be that person. I don’t know what Sullivan wanted it to mean, but that is how I see it.

Not going to lie, I’m not entirely sure what he is saying. But I think he is trying to express how once we find who we are, there is no need to put on an act anymore. For example, teenagers never know who they are or what path they are taking. So they spend all this time feeding into a reputation or a person that they are not. Maybe when they take a step back and stop putting on a show, will they discover who they truly are. 

Sullivan is basically saying once he was comfortable with who he really is, he didn’t feel like he had to fake actions/emotions in front of others.  I think it takes a lot of courage/confidence to really put yourself out there, whether it’s your appearance, likes, dislikes, or ideas.  

This simply means that once someone learns to not only accept themselves, but let go of their inhibitions, they no longer need to put up a front they’ve labeled as “Myself”. It takes strength and courage to not worry about what others may think, so there is a lot of soul searching and time involved in being yourself. 

In my opinion, this quotes means that once you find yourself, you become afraid of the thought of being your own person because you've never known that person. In 9th grade, I was quieter and was trying to fit in with the crowd, but over last year and this year, I've finally accepted myself. Due to the acceptance of myself, I've made new, now close friends that I probably would've never been friends with in 9th grade and for that I'm grateful. Although, being myself was scary and it took a long time to fully accept who I was and who I was becoming, I am no longer afraid of being myself.

I get what he’s trying to say. Once he was okay with himself and how he was, he no longer felt the need to put on an act. But, it’s okay to have fluctuations in your personality and stuff. You don’t always need to act one way, which I feel is what he’s trying to say here. “Acting Yourself” is still being yourself. Everyone is so obsessed with the idea that they have to be “real”, without realizing they’re being real just by existing in the first place.