Fulfilling The Hierarchy

February 2018

Fulfilling The Hierarchy

From Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I had obtained the first four blocks since I was born. My parents provided me with my physiological and safety needs by providing me with food, water, warmth, place of rest, safety and security. They also played a huge role in providing me with my need for love and belonging as well as esteem needs by being there whenever I needed them and by telling me how important I was to them daily.

And I was self – actualised. Or so I thought. I never actually knew my capabilities until a few years ago.

I had various passions as I progressed from grade to grade and I had one passion till I discovered my love for writing, and that was art.

Did I like it? Yep. But was I good at it? Definitely not, being the messy klutz I am. But oh well, it was all a part of discovering what I had in me. It was a learning experience. A long one.

My parents had initially put me to art class when I was younger due to my interest in it. I did fairly well for a five-year-old but the ‘skill’ I thought I had pretty much never developed (I still have the art skills of a five-year-old considering I can't even cut straight). Though my parents told me gently that I should spend my time doing something I am good at, I still did art. While this all happened, my interest in writing slowly grew.

One of my most memorable (and funny) moments was in grade 3. Since I thought that I was a ‘born artist’, I decided to paint a geometry box. But alas, most colours of paint did not cover the black text on the box. But creative little me had an idea! I painted the whole box with BLACK! I spent hours painting it, waiting for it to dry, and decorating it with stickers. To make the long story short, I was scolded for wasting my time. Though my parents let me be the lazy person I am currently, they did not appreciate the time I spent painting a geometry box with black. But from that day on, I realised that my talent wasn’t in the field of visual arts.

Embarrassing but true 😝

Consciously, I stopped painting and drawing. I knew that I wasn’t very good at doing so. My interest slowly moved on to writing and programming; two aspects which I equally liked and was good at. I wrote a huge collection of stories at the age of 9 and moved onto writing my book after which I wrote poems, blog posts, and other literary pieces. Now, I recognise myself as an actualised individual with all of my needs in the hierarchy complete.

My evolution; starting from the age of five to nine and finally eleven!🎉

My parents left me to do what I want to which led to what I am today. Therefore, the one thing I feel and would like to convey is that parents shouldn’t force their ideas on children, but instead let the kids choose. Let us, kids, actualise ourselves by discovering the various things we are interested in and wish to do. Let us realise on our own, with just a little help, what we want to take up since everyone has a talent of their own; even if the talent isn’t in the field which many parents prefer; engineering or medicine.
   And youngsters, keep doing what you wish to. Keep doing whatever your interest lies in, whether or not you're good at it. Though this may sound extremely cliché, don't let dreams stay dreams; turn them into reality.

    Comment on your secret passion!