On Love and Breakdancing

Alden Tan is a young rockstar blogger (26 years old) who reached out to me interested to share his thoughts on The Psychology of Wellbeing.  After getting to know him a bit, I found his passion for life infectious and was inspired by his commitment to chase his dreams.  If you like what he shares below, then check out the raw, unedited version of Alden on his blog or sign up for his free email course on how to stop caring about what others think!

Being a Bboy is awesome.

I mean, everybody thinks we are cool. We are spinning on our heads, we are flipping and twisting in the air and more often than not, that means having a crowd around us clapping and cheering for us. The feeling is exhilarating!

But you know something?  Beneath this exterior of dynamic movements and gravity-defying stunts lays a very deep persona that stands for so much more.  To cut it short, what lies beneath is all love.

Love for yourself.

Love for the world.

And love you can bring to those around you.

Maybe that sounds a little unrealistic or “hippie” to you, but let me explain how this love works with a short lesson on Bboying and its history.

The colourful culture of Hip Hop has four basic elements—Bboying, Graffiti, Emceeing and DJing. Hip Hop has a history that focuses on expression of the self and, more importantly, a culture that promotes love, unity, and passion.

It’s a peaceful culture, for real.

The term Bboy means “Break Boy” in that a Bboy dances to the “breaks” of a record. A Bboy, besides pushing himself on the dance floor, also extends the culture of Hip Hop to his everyday life.   This is how I found my passion for life.

A lot of people have this huge misconception about passion.  They think of passion as a hobby or just something they kind of have an interest in.  It’s way more than that.

Passion is that special feeling inside of you that burns and sets you alive. It’s that undeniable feeling that makes you feel everything is right in the world, and you know for sure you’re doing something great with your life.

When I am dancing, nothing else matters.  Work, studies, money, career, relationship woes and basically the rest of world just don’t matter.  In those moments, I have love and a sense of identity.

As a Bboy, I feel totally special. I feel like I belong to a group of individuals who belong to an even greater Hip Hop Culture.  Maybe you’d call this escapism, a way out of reality. But think about this:

How often in life are you able to feel completely at bliss, where real clarity of who you are actually comes to life?

How often do you get to feel a certain kind of love for yourself and something that gives you purpose and meaning in life?

You’d be surprised how far passion can take you. It’s important because, sadly, I see many people who seem constantly lost.

If you’re one of them. Find a passion. Try out all sorts of different things and activities. If something stirs you up in a way you never thought possible, that could be passion calling out to you.

You know how in life “gurus” and motivational speakers are preaching positivity and loving life? This is easier said than done, for sure.  But I keep coming back to passion, which brings forth the best feelings in the world.

It’s my own personal belief that as long as you follow your heart and do what you love, good things in life will automatically come out.

Some people call this “the law of attraction” but I don’t see it that way.  I call it following your heart; just going with the flow of great feelings. It is, without a doubt better than always worrying, over-thinking and having crazy expectations for the future.

People are always saying life is unfair, life is hard, it’s all about “survival of the fittest”. With passion, I say, “Life can be great as it is”.

How often do you say that to yourself?

What kind of awesome things have I manifested through Bboying?  Apart from great friends and something I love to do, Bboying set in motion a life for me I never thought possible, where I am always pushing myself and believing in myself.

When I was younger, I always felt that in order to gain something, you have to pay for it. When people help each other, it is always offered under certain conditions and expectations.

But when I found the Bboy culture I experienced unconditional love. I’ve learnt from the greats, who expected nothing from me in return.  In our relatively small community of Bboys, I see dancers of all races, different ages and backgrounds coming together. With the same passion uniting us, it’s all love. We are just there to have fun.

This is something I think the world can truly learn from.  Now I think, “passion is all you need in this world.” A bold statement.

But is it not true love is all you need?  Now I believe that passion is love.

Find your passion. Go with the great feelings it brings. Pay it forward by sharing your passion with others so that they too can experience this love.  This is my goal for myself.

I am a Bboy . . . and this is what we do.