Sometimes, we have to stop being Player 2, and become the Player 1 we were meant to be.
At the ripe age of 17, I left my family, my home and my friends to arrive in a city that was absolutely foreign to me: somewhere I had never experienced, and a landscape I had never seen before. It occurred to me a couple months ago, while I was excessively bored in my MIQ facility, that I was in fact, the main character.
Since then, my experiences with my surrounding environment have been astronomical. After missing my home much more than I anticipated, I learnt to embrace nature a lot more. I suddenly became more appreciative of taking long walks, running through the rain, and buying house plants to make my room feel like a garden-nursery. I realised that even though I am extremely far away, I always feel at home with nature. Through a closer connection to my surrounding environment, I have the ability to romanticise my life, and I witnessed the arrival of ‘main character energy’ in my own life.
The Main Character
“You have to start romanticising your life. You have to start thinking of yourself as the main character. Because if you don’t, life will continue to pass you by, and all the little things that make it so beautiful will continue to go unnoticed. “
Danielle Carolan’s viral Tik Tok in May of last year birthed the phenomenon of ‘main character’ energy, which according to the Urban Dictionary, is when someone “lives and breathes like the main character”. She acknowledged how during the hectic times of the pandemic, we must appreciate the beauty of the earth around us and romanticise our lives before it disappears in front of our eyes. Essentially, Carolan elaborates on how we must make the most of the little things in our lives. Clean air, flowers blooming in the springtime, the crispness of fresh snow and through appreciating our earth in a way we haven’t before, we become main characters in our own lives.
How Do We Become Main Characters in Our Own Lives?
Simply put, if we look after ourselves and appreciate our earth and environment we immerse ourselves in, it becomes relatively easy to romanticise our lives. Not only this, but partaking in ‘main character’ activities often help us enforce self-care practices into our routines—things such as putting our phones away, trying something new and appreciating the little things in life. The main characters in our films and tv series are notorious for being a little adventurous, and spontaneous journeys out of their comfort zone are always their best friend.
After a discussion with my friends, we came to the conclusion that we don’t go out and explore enough, and we hardly take advantage of this beautiful country that we find ourselves situated in. When we are in this little corner of the world, it is hard to believe that only a minority take a regular effort to appreciate our country and romanticise their own lives simultaneously.
Do we need to appreciate our earth to become the ‘main character’?
No, yet the two often come hand in hand. Manifesting this primary character energy often persuades our minds to take more time for ourselves, and many people do this by appreciating our environment. Through stimulating our senses through sensory modalities, which we gain from experiencing the natural world, not only are we caring for ourselves, but we are envisioning ourselves as worthy and meaningful. It appears as if the world revolves around us – all aspects of main character energy.
In addition, through experiences with our earth and environment, we begin to stretch our imaginations. Main characters are known for their imaginative minds, creativity, and always thinking outside of the box. Saying yes to more random and spontaneous adventures and activities in our day-to-day life gives us the ability to listen to ourselves. Recently, I said yes to a trip to the South Island and I have never had so much fun. Jumping into Lake Wakatipu while it was a brisk six degrees, to riding through Hagley Park at 3am, I was able to realise by saying ‘yes’ to activities that I wouldn’t normally do, that I am not only living life to the best ability, but I am appreciating the environment I have put myself in. These experiences are the ones that provide opportunity to become the main character in our own lives, as we begin to make our world revolve around us.