Zihan shares her unconventional journey from a strict academic background to becoming a musical theater actress, reflecting on her experiences and personal growth. Despite excelling in school through fear and anxiety, her life took a dramatic turn when she shifted from chemistry to performing arts. In her first musical theater experience, she faced immense challenges as a "bad student," struggling with her director's harsh critiques and her own rigid, analytical approach to acting.
A turning point came when a playwright advised Zihan to focus on her relationship with her co-actors rather than herself. Initially terrified, she eventually let go of control, leading to a transformative performance experience where she felt genuine emotion and connection on stage for the first time. This shift in focus from self-analysis to emotional engagement became a key metric for evaluating her performances.
Zihan attributes her experience to the educational system, which heavily emphasizes rational thinking and often neglects emotional intelligence. She highlights the dangers of over-reliance on rationality, which can lead to "mental exhaustion" and a lack of connection with the world around us. Her own transition into the performing arts helped her reconnect with deeper emotional layers of life, offering her a sense of balance and mental well-being.
In closing, Zihan emphasizes the importance of nurturing emotional awareness and connections with the world to lead a mentally healthy life, encouraging others to find their paths to balance and personal growth. Ms. Zihan Xu is currently a musical actress and singer in China. Prior to becoming an artist, her major was Chemistry and MSE (Material Science and Engineering). After graduation, she has completed 100 commercial musical shows, and her followers on the web are now over 300k. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx