stranger to myself, but every stranger can sum me up in eight seconds

When he says "it's okay" and you suddenly feel lighter, more comfortable and at ease. This guy ... making fun of alot of things and also hitting it precisely when he gets serious. That's not contradictive actually .. but still impressive and nice.

Thank you for effectively giving me permission to not know who I am.

'False sense of insecurity', fuckin wonderful

Ask instead, Who am I becoming.

your confident vulnerability is healing and an honor to experience thank you

Wow. This is the first non-satirical video, and it's so awesome.

That turtle is totally photobombing!

Wow i don't feel so lost anymore. That was so deep .Thanks for the insight.

I'm 7 years late to this party, but just have to say, that in the opinion of this 71 year old, (finally) free spirit, this is, hands down, one of the most important & impressive videos on KZfaq!

OMG, ive been struggling with this issue all my life. Trying to find myself, to be able to be authentic when im with others. It has always ben a losing battle. I thought I was totally lost. Thank you for this powerful teaching. I really am OK

You are my new therapist. I really needed one, just ask my husband.

Interesting. I have so many thoughts on this right now. The first being, that in order to really know yourself, you have to understand the things that make you happy. So you have to try a lot of different things to learn your likes, and your dislikes. The second thing is, being yourself means being the you that you're most comfortable and happy with. The truest form of happiness I'm aware of is when what you think and what you say and what you do are all in harmony with each other. In all reality it's difficult to be ourselves all the time. People often do things they're ashamed of out of anger, or necessity. Most people I've talked to have 2 concepts involving who they are. There's the person they want to be, and there's the person they think they are. The fastest way I found to get to know myself better, and get over the 'who I think I am' concept, was by first asking myself "What kind of person am I overall, when I look at the actions I've taken through my life?" The second was to ask myself, "Would I want to be friends with me?" Looking at yourself from an outsiders perspective, can be a really big eye opener. x.x Sorry for going on forever, you're video gave me so much to think about. I'd better get back to writing. :) Thank you!

I feel like maybe this wasn't something to watch while sitting around stuffing my face with potato chips

"If you're not alive and you're watching this video you've got issues" 😂 I died!

This just came to mind: let yourself be

I'm totally myself with my dogs, and they love me. The cat is another story. Thanks for the great journal idea, "Who I'm not."

The Beauty of Freedom is Immeasurable The Satisfaction of Dignity is Divine You Do Not Need to be Someone You Are Not JUST you are FINE The world Needs You Because There is Only One You And Only You Can Be You, Like You Do LOVE from Cappadocia!

This was so good! If anyone asks, I say I am myself. And if they ask "what does that mean?" I usually say "I dont know, I'm still changing." I agree..being secure in that insecurity allows us to keep ourselves out of boxes which would otherwise limit growth. When my friends talk to me about their identity I give them this exact advice. Its okay not to know because not knowing does nothing to your importance. I find when people place their identities in man made constructs, they face a lot of confusion.

I don’t know who I am, and I don’t think I ever will know fully, because I lost a part of myself years ago that I won’t ever get back. Maybe I’ll recover, maybe I won’t. But I do know that no matter who I act like, or try to be, I try my best to help people, and that’s who I am. I still don’t know who I am. Sometimes my personality shifts to another randomly, just because I have no idea on how to know I really am. The best I can do is do what I think is right. After all, we’re all human, and that’s all we can do.

Reminds me of Alan Watts 'The Wisdom of Uncertainty' ❤️🙏

JP: came here for the comedy - staying for your substance. Great channel, thank you very much! :)

how about removing the pressure to be "someone"? perhaps feel free to be no-one. we always have to do or be sth. our whole live works like that. find the right job, find the right soul mate, find the right sexual orientation, find the right nutritional orientation, find the right religion, find the right yoga-school... and now i have to find MYSELF? and perhaps even be something special? feel free to be nothing special. feel free to be one of billions of beings. out of billions of years in history. you are nothing special. i am nothing special. we are nothing special. but that's ok. enjoy it. sit down and listen to the trees, the river... or the people passing by, the cars, the bicycles, the tv of your neighbour...

Hey There. I was recently discarded from a marriage. I had taken on the role of House Dad...When the wheels came off, I was wayyy tipped over. I had no idea who I was at all. It was really disorienting. Now, when I look back, I get sad. When I look too far foreward into the unknown future, I feel useless....I am very lucky to have a place to be and some time to breathe into these words, Thanks

You're changing my whole outlook on life. I cant believe how much I'm learning from u. You're helping humanity with your content. The first youtuber I feel is speaking from the heart and is actually helping others. I'm just blown away by you. Great job and you deserve to be heard. People need to hear this. Much respect! Thank you!!!!

I always strive to be as terrible as I can be, so that future me can look back and say, "Glad I'm not that guy." (Seriously though this was great.)

Love this more serious side of you. Great discussion. I’m someone who suffered a catastrophic spinAl cord injury 6 yrs ago. Left paralyzed from waist down feeling completely detached from half of my body I am still figuring out who I am. I don’t know. Thanks for reminding me it’s okay, not to know. Would love to see more videos like this.

It honestly feels like I'm a living persona. All the people that are in my life daily feels as if I'm just wearing a mask and putting on an act. And now, realizing that, I'm aware of that is not who I want to be, but it's so hard because it's all I've ever been. I just don't know how to break that cycle.

I love how you so eloquently put into words the deepest knowledge of my heart. My inner wisdom appreciates being given a voice by your beautiful soul. Thank you

A YOUNG MAN OF WISDOM

It’s insane watching this and then seeing the latest videos, you’re still writhing with this question

The wisdom of being insecure -- helps us be secure with our insecurity. Recognizing where and what we are in this great macrocosm we all live within. Good advice to live by. I aim to as well.

I liked your work brother! I like the way you express yourself and the way you use humor to touch peoples hearts (:

I love and appreciate how clearly you communicate about feelings. I am someone who often has trouble translating the language of feeling into the language of words; and you do such a beautiful job. Very inspiring. I enjoyed in this video your reference to the paradoxical aspect of learning who you're not, in order to learn who you are. It is an ever growing and progressing dance between the two. It's like trying on clothes in a store, (I know it's a girly reference, but it works) only the store has an infinite amount of possibilities all waiting to be 'tried on', and either it feels good and ya keep it, or It doesn't, and ya put it back. To me this paradox shows why light and shadow both have to exist. It creates boundaries, or the ability to define something. Imagine standing in a room of all light, or all dark. You wouldn't be able to define any of your surroundings, there would be zero point of reference; but the slightest but of the contrast creates the ability to observe, and be an observer from a single perspective and define a 'self'. I am the dark because I am not the light, or vice versa. Knowing that both have to exist in order to perceive the other gives me the ability to accept and have gratitude for the shadow aspects of myself [and others]. This is a metaphor that can be applied to different parts of life. Make peace, and dance with your shadow, and have gratitude that it holds the space that it does, because it's necessary. And a funny thing happens when you accept these things instead of resist or deny them... You can choose to invoke them, or not.

I love how your channel peppers humor videos with serious ones like this. I’ve had an experience in life that taught me - pretty convincingly - that the purpose of life is to merely experience it for all that it is - the good and the bad. Every day we wake up as a slightly different person as the day before. It’s important to accept yourself for who you are today and to remember that experiencing each day for what it is is at the heart of what life is all about.

I am one of those, I lost myself and my beliefs to find who I am.♥ Painful at the beginning but Beautiful at the end.

"Well let me just...invite this bug to get off my leg first." 😂❤

Who I am is the Possibility of Self-Expression, Love, Peace, Freedom, Clarity, Wisdom, Fulfilling Life and Contribution to others!!!

You are SO articulate!!! SO fulfilling to hear your wisdom... You are "gift" JP!!!

Thank you for posting this video and speaking your truth in this moment. This is something that I have struggled with for a very long time and had brought up in prayer this morning. Hearing your message was very healing and in its simplicity I could feel an inner energy shift.

This is amazing.

subscribed. this did it for me. I have actually been asking myself the, who am I? question a lot lately because of many factors and felt like there has to be something wrong with not having any convictions. I have always been very open to life's possibilities and learning and observing but I didn't always see that as a positive. after watching this thinking back on my mindset, I observed life like that because I felt I didn't know anything and that made me feel insecure and child like for not knowing who I am at 28 years old. Thank you for this discussion.

There’s knowledge that is not meant to be known, and that’s ok. When we use the ability to wonder about life in the present, around the ones that are close to us. Figuring out how we can bring love and care to others. Life becomes a gift, because like the first light of the day touches the top of a tree and keeps reaching other branches. The cycle of light and love will reach us all. Thanks for your words and good energy 💫

Congratulations on your recent viral video. I am a new subscriber, you seem like a nice fellow. I never paid much attention to my ego but you make me very conscientious about it now. It is easy to forget there are parts of me that are not the ego. Maybe it is worth considering the ego doesn't always know what is best for me.

This vid found me at this perfect moment in regards to my mindset over the last week or two. Thank you.

My cousin is exactly like you. Thinking, speaking, looking, voice, philosophy, body shape, even his face has some common features with you! Just like being twin!!

He seems like he’d make an incredible friend.

Very wise, thank you. Apophatic Inquiry is vital. You definitely got my subscription :D

Dying the deathless death willingly and a winter's tale becomes new spring.

I thought this was going to go in a different direction but glad that it didn't. "Who I am" evolved and grew into very different things conveniently in 10-year intervals. 20's-college student/young band director, 30's-big school band director and mentor, 40's-school principal/kickboxing and fitness instructor and even more mentorship, 50's-big school principal-slowing down back into teaching orchestra. There were a few other periods of time in my 50s where I was a realtor, car salesman, and bartender. You are spot on about how easy it can be to lose yourself in who you are. It's a long life and I've enjoyed doing and learning and experiencing so many things. I feel good that I've been able to adapt and figure out how to be successful in all these things. I sometimes wonder what it might have been like to do ONE thing/ONE job for all of their adult life. I'm a little envious of that as well. Hmmm. Great video, man. PS...I just read an article about another person getting gored by a buffalo in a national park because they got too close. My retort channeled that voice of how you'd play the entitled taxpayer whining about not being able to get close enough to a wild animal for a selfie for their Insta.

Asking myself who I'm not.. that's a profound question & food for thought, I'm glad I stumbled over this video

this can be especially hard to discover, within the instance of relationship breakdowns, especially of the relationship has lasted a long time, decades even, the person you were within that relationship becomes lost , instead of being 50% of 100 % you become 100% of 0 %.... ( hope that makes sense ) the hardest part, along side the grieving of missing what you had, is most often the trying to adapt to your NEW life , and trying to find YOU again, it is hard, it may take yrs, but you CAN do it...... wow that was pretty deep stuff for a friday morning..lol

I don't necessary agree with Viadislav Koslin, I think if you know who you are, then it is easier to be yourself, I think knowing who you are is based on values and beliefs. Knowing who you are is the rock that keeps you from being a piece of paper in the wind, so no one or situation will overwhelm you that you do things that go against what your values and beliefs are.

Once I stopped waiting for the joke and realized you were being serious, I was so appreciative of your wise words. Thank you JP!

I love that JP encourages me to be in my empowered authentic self by showing me how my mind creates my own prison, and he does it in a very engaging comedic and prof found way without seeing in preachy. Makes me wish I had a dad like that.

When I saw the title I was like OMG how does he know?

This made me laugh silently and inwardly

JP. Thank you. This morning the thought “I don’t know who I am” came to mind. Your conversation here brought everything back into perspective.

This make me think of the philosophical question " Who are you?" Not what your name or title is, not what you do, not what you are associated with. Just simply, "Who are you?" 7 years and i'm still trying to figure out the answer. And as you mentioned, the answer is probably something that can't be put in to words. Great video. Loved it.

Not knowing who you are, is the first step to knowing something about yourself.

you should do ted talks and if you do, id like to be there when you do

This is pure gold! He is better than any „serious“ counsellour.

The older I become and the more honest and authentic people I am fortunate to connect with, the more I realize that this idea that you have to have it all figured out by a certain point is quite bs. We are all battling our individual shit storms, to some degree.

you should talk about accepting your own existence

I felt so lost and this video made me feel so good. Thanks xxx for some reason you remind me of Ross Geller by the way.

Change is life, as your are life, that is what you truly are at all times. I love you how make a point of saying "Divorce who you were yesterday." As a young man currently, I myself find this to be more and more true each day. All those cliche's about how the more you learn the less you know, they are cliche because they are true as hell. It took mistakes and me seeing what damage I am capable of to realize this fact. Out of hardship and battling with demon's, I have learned that I am not the guy I thought I was. In a way, that realization of "Wow... who am I really? Who am I becoming?" brought on a feeling of acceptance of myself. This took years to come into fruition for me. The beginning of your video really strikes true. It was at the climax of all these questions about self that I realized to say "It's ok." I have learned that I may never know who I really am. At times it perplexed and puzzled me and still does to this day, but now I know it's not about who you are, it's about who you can be. Knowing I have my demon's, my bad sides, as does everyone, and the acceptance of them also came with the acceptance that I have my good sides: caring, compassionate, and empathetic. I try to feed my good sides, because after so much has happened, there is no room for bad in this life, at least within myself... All you can do is realize who you're not and try to connect with who you want to be. The sides of you that you want to be already there, but may be muddled in the pool of your brain. It's your job to sift through and find them.

We should all have a clear sense of self and be open to improve self. Discovering who you are is a process. Knowing who you are gives you sense of belonging/isolation but at least you will know where you fit in.

I think there are two ways to lose yourself. I lost myself as a person who laughs in my marriage to someone who saw laughter as a direct threat to his sense of self (he was abusive - the saying by Margaret Atwood that men are afraid that women will laugh at them while women fear that men will kill them was true, and in the end, I was afraid he might kill me, or my children). That was the bad way of losing myself. I filed for divorce about half a year ago and in the meantime I have the sense that maybe I could find that laughing person again, but there are so many responsibilities as a worker and parent that I am not sure I can. The other loss of self is so much better - that moment when you are so wholly unaware of yourself but only aware of your surroundings - like when you are outside, or when you are singing. That is a good loss of sense of self. These are interesting videos, JP, given that for a year or so I have only seen your silly videos.

You should take the audios of these and turn them into a podcast

I love it when he looks off to the side in surprise of what just came out of his mouth.

Your mannerism, how you explain your points, your speech.... everything. I loved it. Thank you

I know I'm ultra spiritual- therefore I am wise - I'm sure Socrates said that ;)

Plenty of people think they know who they think they are or perceive themselves to be, we are or have all been guilty of this.... I thought I used to know, now I know NOTHING REALLY. ..... (socrates quote always rings true for me, the only true wisdom is that I know nothing) yet, in my not knowing I come to know the Everythingness within the Nothingness!!! No wrong Nor right.... I bet it makes no sense!! it matters not either way, loved this video. Love Always Lana

I have never even thought the sentence "I want to be myself" until you said it and I had to actively think through the sentence to make sure it made sense grammatically

14 and I've never felt so lost. Sometimes my mind cant process/accept that this is my reality now

Good Video, very interesting!!!

Thank you, your videos help a lot!.. Glad to have found you here by chance :)

You don't know where you're going until you know where you've been. I've thought about the subject matter many times over the years. Eventually, I returned to doing more simplistic things. It was during that time that I remembered my paternal grandfather. He died before I was born, and I only ever heard brief things about him. Hadn't really thought about him in decades. Then I became very curious. Started asking more questions. And then I remembered so many things about myself that I had forgotten. That's when I remembered who I was.

Just saw the title of the video started commenting while listsning to it. The less we admit we know the more we can actually learn. Therefore the less we think we know of ourselves the more suseptable we are to learning more about ourselves, and then we can work on the things that we dont like about ourselves and appreacitate and focus on the things we do like about ourselves wich helps us improve on ourselves. Depending on ones motivation, acceptance, and honesty. Lets face it its hard to acknowledge our flawes and change our ways. Sometimes all we can do is try, Sometimes thats all it takes. And for those who are confident in knowing who they are, the best thing you can do is test yourself, just to make sure you're not kidding yourself. And to lose yourself doesn't mean you have to go oit and party, do drugs, drink, amd go crazy. (Although it can be fun from time to time) Losing yourself can mean other forms of experimentation in your life that dont coinside with your normal ways. Anyways, Keep on Rocking in the Free world!... or what's left of it!

OK, now I'm even more confused. I suppose what I get from this is that I'm someone with no friends, no relationships, no job, no reason to live. Or perhaps instead, I'm not someone with friends, a relationship, a job, or any reason to live.

How do i know which video is satirical nd wich is serious talk

we're all constantly changing like seasons and the weather. Today i may be infatuated with punk rock and tomorrow all i want to listen to is clairo. Some days im sad and wallow in it allowing the world to present itself to me as dark and unforgiving but other days all i can think about is how blessed i am to be alive in this specific universe on this specific earth where theres enough gravity to keep us moving and water and food. As time goes on and things change so do we, different perspectives and opinions are presented to us that allow our minds to open up and question more. New experiences and feelings all mold us into our current state of being.

I don’t know who I am or what I want... it feels like i’m flying thru space looking for something to cling to but nothing is there. There is hunger and fullness at the sane time. Loosing so much in such a short amount of time does that to you.. I’ve been attaching myself to so many characters around me looking to grasp the handlebars for a sense of security but everything I try to grab disappears. I am trying to surrender, but the mind won’t. It keeps thinking and searching for purpose sense and meaning of it all. We all wish we were given a blueprint to follow, a script of some sort.. but your right. Life is a mystery.. I just have to enjoy the journey, stop my own judgement towards my self.

how do the mosquitoes feel about da issue? Do mosquitoes find each-other?

so how do you know the difference between what IS your true self and what ISN'T? for example you mentioned that you are NOT the person who is a slave in relationships, although you sometimes fall down that path, you correct yourself and remind yourself that that is not who you are... how do you know that that is not who you really are and you are suppressing it...?

I was adopted when I was 3 months and understood what that meant up until I turned 25ish and now in my 30s. I've been blessed with an amazing family that welcomed me with open arms and real love and I could never ask for anything more out of where I am. The questions brewed fast and it got very confusing as I grew. Long story short I'm lost...so lost! It's caused me to sabotage the positive things I've been blessed with for no reason. This was a great message

I know that the vulnerability of myself is close to my greatest strength .

is turtle real in background?

When I clicked on this video I didn't know who I was. At all.😔

I think that by defining who I am not, I am allowing myself to be fully who I am. To try and define who I am puts a ton of strictures on myself. It's like the rule books that list what you cannot do vs the rule books that list what you can do. The latter is so much more restrictive than the former. Thank you for providing a valuable video, JP. As always, I enjoyed it immensely.

You're spot on with this because if I stay stuck on who I think I am, then there's no room for me to grow as a person. So I think it's kind of ridiculous when people say "be yourself." What's that supposed to mean when life is supposed to be about constant change?

The funniest thing about these videos is that people don't seem to realize they're satire.

ok. wow. you practicly took the three year long struggle i have had with myself and helped me understand it all in less than 5 min. thank you. you have no idea how greatful i am for hearing this. it was like a key to a locked door inside my heart that i have almost given up hope to open.

Thank you JP. Yes, I know who I am not and we are always evolving to the next phases of our life. It's continuous change with learning and growing. Insecurity and uncertainty makes us all feel like we don't know who we are. But we are all blessed in a new day and doing new things with failures and successes. I've been stuck for a few years, and I've had those savior feelings in relationships. You can't save or fix anyone, nor do I have the desire to do any fixing of others insecurities.

Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what remains. That awareness which alone remains, I am that.

I think you can definitely find yourself and be happy with who you are, as long as you embrace the fact that you will grow and you will change. In my life, I've tried to fill the identity whole in me by so many things and it's been more or less destructive. But now I'm really happy with who I am, I know who I am, and I embrace the fact that I will keep on growing. I do agree that it's okay to not be sure of who you are. Every person is his/her own and has to find their own way.

I don't like how often people tell insecure people to just be themselves. Without any further instruction. If feels like telling a depressed person to "just be positive", while subconsciously meaning "I'm good and don't understand your problem". But maybe that's just my impression... Thanks for the video, it makes me feel better.

I am loving your videos JP. You have a lot of wisdom and it's wonderful that you're sharing so much of it with the world. I am getting a degree in Mental Health Counseling, and I have struggled as I realize each day how little I really know. Last night I had to reassure myself that it is O.K. that I do not know everything, and that was really freeing. Sometimes it's O.K. not to know, as long as we're open to learning, and thinking you know everything actually closes you off from learning.

I try to self improve, but I also have reached the point of not giving a damn about what other people think of me.

Unbelievable how he became exactly what he warned us about. He used to be so calm, at peace, humble, non-judgemental, and authentic. Now he's the exact opposite of all those things.