Self-Help with Peter Vack

🤍 FOLLOWING YOUR BLISS, 🌹 BEING A LOVER, and 👍 TELLING YOURSELF A POSITIVE STORY ABOUT YOURSELF

September 9, 2024

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Peter Vack is a New York City-based actor, writer, director, and Perfectly Imperfect return guest. Since his last appearance two years ago (you can read it here), he wrote one of the buzziest books of the summer, wrote + directed the recently premiered www.RachelOrmont.com, continued teaching his Vacting classes, done a bunch of readings, etc. In his perennially creative and unbounded nature, Peter has a themed rec list— “I was selling my debut novel, Sillyboy, door to door, with my publisher, editor, mentor, and friend Jon Lindsey (#301) when he told me the only genre of book doing numbers in 2024 is self-help. As a neo-Freudian literary semi-autofiction author, I realized I had to pivot. So, here it is: the first Perfectly Imperfect Self-Help List!”

🤍

FOLLOWING YOUR BLISS

Joseph Campbell said, “follow your bliss.” Cynics be like, “Sure, Vack, I follow my bliss every night to the River (bar)!” Don’t listen to cynics. Instead, stand with Joe and me, and dream the impossible dream. Following your bliss does not mean chasing pleasure, it is pursuing the life you truly want. The life you envision when you get quiet and stop thinking. Remember, your “plan B” is someone else’s “plan A,” so go for “plan A!”

👍

TELLING YOURSELF A POSITIVE STORY ABOUT YOURSELF

If you’ve taken Vacting class, you’ve heard me say this. The reality of following your bliss can be difficult. On your journey you may be tempted by negativity and self-doubt. You may even want to think extremely negative thoughts like I suck or I’m gonna kill myself if I don’t win an Oscar this year.Don’t listen to these thoughts. Negativity is too easy/undisciplined. Instead, practice telling yourself positive stories about yourself and your journey.Try these positive thought templates if you’re feeling stuck:“I am the best __________ who ever lived.”“I am the most _________ person of all time.”“All my dreams came true.”Practice having the thoughts you would have if you already achieved your dreams. Go for it! No one can hear you! Indulge in extreme positivity! This is how to manifest real world positive outcomes. Trust me, no one you admire found success hating themselves or dwelling on real or imagined failures.Even if you want to create a tortured poet, brat, perfectly imperfect, scene of niche creatives, clout bomb shrapnel, anti-clout, theater of cruelty, post-responsibility, skitzo, beef-magnet, twisted cycle-path persona, I still believe you’ll do it more effectively from a foundation of positivity.

🌹

BEING A LOVER

Dear Haters, keep sucking, I’m about to cum(plete this list). Being a lover is powerful. Being a lover is productive. Being a hater is cucked and pathetic.

😈

BEING A HATER

I get it. Life is hard and people can be horrible. I’ll admit, hate gave me the juice to write this list. Did you write one even one Perfectly Imperfect? I thought this morning in a fantasy fight with an imaginary hater (an activity I do not recommend). Did you create a new genre of Perfectly Imperfect! I thought, and an idea was born! So, if you hate, have fun with hate! Use hate to stimulate creativity and convert it into energy for following your bliss and telling yourself a positive story about yourself!

🖋️

POETRY

I started writing poetry this year and now I am a famous poet. People are calling me “the Elis Burrau of Dimes Square,” and Elis, “Sweden’s Peter Vack.” It’s beautiful. I used to use prose journaling like therapy and have around a hundred million words dedicated to my suffering from ages 19-37. But now I prefer poetry for processing life’s extremes. The rigor of concision and rhyme is more effective I find for quieting the mind and reducing suffering.

😂

MEME POETRY

Meme poetry is another genre I created. A meme poem is a poem made of meme phrases. A meme phrase is a crowd-sourced aphorism you customize. Meme poetry is a writer’s life hack I recommend if you’re looking for a fun/easy way to write poetry.Here’s how to write a meme poem. Take a bunch of your favorite meme phrases like:“Noooo put me back I _________________”“You come to me on this the day ___________”“When________ beat the ________ allegations”*Somali Pirate Voice* “Look at me I am _______now”Fill in the blanks and use your personalized meme phrases as lines in a poem!I like to repeat phrases over and over, for example:Nooooo put me back I was a geriatric millennial with a gen z mindsetNooooo put me back I was committed to the bitNooooo put me back I was Instagram’s only psychoanalystNooooo put me back I was podding with Throwing FitsNooooo put me back I was publishing Alternative LitWhen poetry beat the no new genres allegationsWhen self-help beat the cringe allegationsWhen meme poetry beat the exclusive allegationsYou come to me on this the day of my 2nd Perfectly Imperfect listYou come to me on this the day I tell you all to follow your blissYou come to me on this the day you order my novel SillyboyYou come to me on this the writing meme poetry fills me with joy*Somali Pirate Voice*Look at me I am Miranda July nowLook at me I am Tony Robbins NowLook at me I am Eckhart TolleLook at me I am a Brad Troemel healing influencer post carouselLook at me I am wishing you well

📚

READINGS

Now that you wrote a poem, you should read it at a reading! Readings are hot right now. Even Honor Levy is pro-readings these days. Readings are cheaper than movies or plays and create community which is essential for longevity and mental health.

🖥️

GOING ONLINE

People say going online is bad for mental health and they’re not entirely wrong. But aside from inducing the occasional bout of mania or depression, I’ve also met my best friends and cultivated profound life experiences going online. So, go for it! Get your screen time up! Like, post, scroll, or participate in a group chat for recovering edgelord men! Like I always say, “it’s never a crime to have fun online!”

🌱

TOUCHING GRASS

I didn’t touch grass until I was 16 years old, but it changed my life for the better! Nature can be more restorative than man-made cures/therapies, so how can I not recommend touching grass!

🌃

DIMES SQUARE

I confess this isn’t self-help, but I gotta follow my bliss and recommend Dimes Square. I’m a provincial hometown guy. I love NYC. I love Dimes Square. In his Perfectly Imperfect, Jordan Firstman said, “Dimes Square is done.” But that’s not true. Like I always say, “every time you hear, “Dimes Square is cooked,” a TikToker clicks the partiful link for Cassidy and Annabel’s Confessions at Sov House.”

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Self-Help with Peter Vack

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