Letting go of labels

I recently read this Taoist quote that really resonated with me:

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” — Lao Tzu

For years, I’ve felt a strong urge to create and post videos on YouTube. And for just as long, I’ve held myself back — mostly out of fear of the labels that posting videos might assign me. I didn’t want to be seen as a “YouTuber” or a “content creator.” And the artist in me resisted the idea that talking-head videos could be considered artistic enough.

Still, I couldn’t shake the desire to create videos simply as a way to express myself. I briefly started posting, then stopped again after a few videos.

That quote made me reflect on how much this constant concern about how others might perceive me, and how I might be labeled, has been holding me back.

The same pattern has shown up in my professional life, where I often find myself thinking about titles rather than simply doing the work and noticing whether I enjoy it or not.

Questions like these would dominate my thoughts: Am I an entrepreneur? An artist? A creative director? A painter? A filmmaker?

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with images of what everyone else is doing, it’s easy to become more concerned with the image of doing something than with actually doing the thing itself. For a long time, I thought I wanted to be a creative director, partly because I’d seen people online in that role and thought it looked cool. But in reality, I had no idea what that job was actually like. I only knew the image of it, shaped by how someone else presented it.

Trying to fit ourselves into a box can prevent us from fully expressing who we are. Social media encourages us to “niche down” to appeal to a specific audience, yet most of us are inherently multifaceted.

To let go of these labels, I’m learning to loosen my grip and follow what genuinely draws me in. Lately, that’s meant allowing myself to create through video, painting, poetry, and writing, without needing to justify or define any of it. Letting myself move between different forms has opened up a new sense of creative flow and self-expression.

So, as the quote suggests: when you let go of who you’re trying to be, you make space to become who you already are.