430: The Artist’s Way With Felicia Lin

Felicia Lin writer, blogger, and host of the Talking Taiwan podcast. Felicia always had a deep curiosity about Taiwan, which is why she has always been involved in the Taiwanese American community, and it’s a bit of reason she ended up deciding to move to Taiwan in 2001. Felicia’s podcast called Talking Taiwan is an audio magazine (podcast) about interesting people who are connected to Taiwan and what they are doing.

Felicia shares how she was able to live life for herself instead of others by picking up the book called The Artist’s Way along with other factors in her life to be the confident person that she is today.

Also, this will be the last episode before the holiday break and new episodes will start on January 8, 2018. Happy Holidays!

Bio

Felicia Lin writer, blogger, and host of the Talking Taiwan podcast.

Cultural Background

Felicia is of Taiwanese descent.

Favorite Self Confidence Quote

I expand in abundance every day as I inspire those around me to do the same.

Definition of Self Confidence

Self-confidence is knowing that no matter what, no matter how bad things get or seem, if you are depressed, disappointed, heartbroken, feel like a failure or lost, you still know that somehow you will pull through. Things will get better, and you will figure things out. It’s the sense that you are strong enough to get through the worst, but it is also being strong enough to know when you need to ask for help or admitting that you don’t know something.

Her Life Before the Discovery of Self Confidence

In the past, Felicia’s lack of self-confidence manifested itself in the sense that she spent her early twenties unhappy in her “career” because she really didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. She had ended up in the accounting profession, because as the first born, and trying to be a “good daughter” she had followed the very practical advice of her parents, to study to be an accountant. Before she even graduated she knew that she didn’t want to be an accountant. she was looking for something that was meaningful. She didn’t really know how to stand up for herself or to speak up.

The “AHA” Moment

There have been a lot of a-ha moments and hard lessons throughout Felicia’s life that taught her that she needed to speak up for herself. And then when she turned 30 it was like she flipped a switch and she really didn’t care what others thought of her. But the biggest thing that happened in her life that helped her to gain self-confidence was during her mid-late 20s. Her world fell apart as she was trying to complete her Master degree in Psychology at NYU, dealing with the stress of planning her wedding, then the break up of the engagement and relationship just a month before the wedding, all the while experiencing symptoms of hyperthyroidism. What did Felicia learn from going through all that? 1) That she would pull through just fine 2) That she needed to live her life for herself and to not do what others thought was best for her.

Felicia decided that she needed to get away, to leave New York and to go to Taiwan figure out what she wanted to do. Moving to Taiwan after completing her Master degree was not a popular decision. Some people thought she was just running away without a plan, but ultimately, going to Taiwan was an important time of self-discovery that got her on the path to write, which is what she has always wanted to do, but had never had to courage to pursue. There were several baby steps along the way, first she started blogging about her life in Taiwan. Back then blogging was a big deal. She was basically putting her personal journal, her words out there publicly for all the world to see. It was a place where she would write and share her personal thoughts, posting photos and so on. It was like putting a piece of herself on public display. She felt exposed and vulnerable, knowing that her words and inner most thoughts were on the Internet for anyone to see. She didn’t event share her identity on her blog. To put things into perspective, this was back in the days before social media, A blog was the closest thing to what we now call social media.

The other thing that happened during this time that Felicia lived in Taiwan, was that she was given this book called “The Artist’s Way” which helped her to work through a lot of her creative blocks and something called the inner critic which that voice inside that censors or stops us by telling us that we are not good enough, not original enough, not creative enough, and so on. So this was a crucial time for her to figure out what she really wanted to do and to purse her desire to write.

Her Life After the Discovery of Self Confidence

Felicia is not concerned with what others think of her. She doesn’t blindly accept what others think is best for her. She is very intentional about everything she does –it is her choice.