What makes you a “somebody” in life?

What do you mean by somebody?

Uh... Don't expect good, sophisticated, logical, or philosophical answer from me I'm naturally stupid

I think as somebody is defined by "Someone" or "a person," that thing is simply goes back to what being a person is. This is the definitive definition of what a person is:

A person is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility

But if we talk about what makes a being a person or somebody in relation of their own values and virtues, their idealized version of themselves, or their own goals; I think the answers would be varied per individuals. It is some kind of "What is the meaning of life" question that will have different answers depending on person, and everyone will have different approach in term of finding the answer. Simply perhaps, a " somebody" for a person is everything that fulfill their standard and criteria of their definition of it.

Then I think for me, what makes a somebody, is value they hold
Whether it is a value of their judgement itself, the value of what they judge, or even the simple value of their existence.
It will be different though for others

I'm sleepy by the way.

A "somebody" is a person that can be labelled in an easy to understand archetype as a result of their distinct qualities: the 'artist' is someone who is skilled at art, the 'wise one' is a person that can give great advice, the 'smart one' is a person who is successful in academics and business, etc.

A 'nobody' is someone who has no distinct qualities - or rather, has no qualities that they have any pride in having.

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However, it should be noted that such labels are reductive - these only apply to one's first impressions of a person.

And who said that i'm a "somebody", i'm "nobody" as is. Small man from small town, just a number in statistics.
If you have enough money or "connections" you can literally run over me with your big black SUV and get out the court completely clean and nobody will say anything.

I feel this is a super like... individual question, that sorta depends a bit on your goals?

I talked to a friend once who wants to work in non-profits, something that had never occurred to me as a like, long-term goal, and his response was "I want to do something that matters, you know?" I was honestly blown away. That's the sort of thing that's hard for me to imagine doing if it's not out of some sort of guilt -- "oh I should be doing some kind of charity, I should be doing some good in the world" -- rather than a genuine and fulfilling aspiration. But here he was, excited about the chance to do the kind of work he really wanted to do.

I talked to another friend of mine, who said they didn't want Power or Fame or Influence and I admitted there's a part of me that does sort of want to be famous. "What for?" they asked, because they assumed that by this I meant I wanted a sphere of influence, and they confessed that they'd always assumed that "fame" and "power" were synonyms -- anyone who wants fame obviously wants it for the power and influence. I talked about how I had silly daydreams about getting a comic made into a movie and going on talk shows, of people being really interested in my insight into my stories.
"So you want engagement?" they asked.
"What else is fame?" I replied. "It's five million people caring about you."

So like, for my first friend, work that helps others, work that "matters," was part of being a somebody. For me, part of being a somebody is being seen and cared about.

But then there's another layer of that, because one single person can have conflicting feelings. Regardless of how much I value it, I don't really believe fame and influence is a true measure of worth. I also want to be a kind person, and I try to constantly remind myself that this, too, changes the world. Little moments of respite for friends are worthwhile even though they don't change everything. And I believe this, even when I don't always feel it! So I have what I Feel, where something inside me craves acknowledgement and attention as a method of becoming a Somebody, and what I Believe, what I have decided, which is that even insignificant acts of kindness contribute to the world and make you Somebody.

And then there's another piece to this too, which is that not everyone wants to be Somebody. Some people genuinely don't care, and the idea of being a Somebody or a Nobody doesn't keep them up at night. They want to be happy, fulfilled people, but they don't find that worth and that fulfilment in being a person of any Significance. They just want to make a good place for themselves and the people they care about. And then if you asked them, "are you a Somebody?" they would say "No, I'm Nobody, but I'm happy!" and be perfectly content with that.

For me (minerrale) being a somebody is simply being yourself to the fullest. I don't care for money or fame, I just want to have fun and maybe make people smile with my stories and silliness
So me being a somebody would be, me being a writer who manages to touch at least 1 person with a novel. And being free.
Free as in "I can travel the world if I feel like it, I can jump around and laugh in the middle of a marketplace if I feel like it, I don't care what people or society think"!!
Being a nobody is like being a sheep, blocked in a path you haven't chosen and are too afraid to escape from. But that's just my idea of it, I guess

Good question.. I think my dog and dogs overall is an important part. Aside from creating that and dog training is my biggest passion.

Thank you for making the forum thread. I believe that I am a somebody no matter what other people think. I'm not just saying this as a cliché'. I am working on some things that not only will manifest my belief about myself, but passes the standards that some other people use. If I grade myself by the standards that some other people use, I would be a nobody right now.

The "somebody" label is extremely overrated and not worth your health if you can't handle it.

When I was a "somebody", a VIP, I was the center of attention and everything was push on to me. They expected me to do everything, fix everything. The pressure was way too high for me, I was all alone with no mental support. After a year, I got anxiety and depression, I decided to give up and seak for professional help. It has been more than 2 years and I still get PTSD from that.

Today, I am just a "nobody", no one really expect me to do anything important, and I am trying to be a professional comic artist in my time.

I am enjoying being a nobody of to society.

It really depends on the definition of Somebody that one takes.

At its core, everyone who knows someone is somebody because they can be identified.

Humans are immensely social creatures. We require meaningful interaction to survive. That's why people who are satisfied have close relationships that fulfill their sense of belonging.

So it boils down to desire.

For some the label is meaningless. They live their life without caring likely because they assume they are somebody as default, at least to someone else.

Alternatively, if someone is in a negative frame of mind, unwilling to form close bonds with others, they may resign themselves to being nobody. At least, nobody that anybody cares about.

Then there's the fame aspect of being "well-known". Regardless if the scale of fame is among neighborhood children or history itself, many people judge their own "somebody-ness" based on how many people know of them.

I personally throw away all such labels. I have people who know me as I really am and I have people who only know me cause of my work but they don't really know me personally. So in that manner I am somebody in relation to them. But I figure I am nobody to a good 7billion others who have never heard of me. It really depends on context.

I suppose a thing to explore for characters is do they internally justify their somebody-ness or do they look for outside validation, which can be and is rather fickle.

Being somebody is an illusion , what you are is constantly changing as you exist in the flow of time and you are experiencing the changes in the world around you, you can not be steadfast in a universe that is constantly changing, an energy that constantly transforms and interacts with itself .

I love thinking about stuff like this, thanks for making this thread!

It's kind of interesting that people are talking about how some people don't care about what others think while others care too much. In one sense that's true, but in another we can never truly exist apart from other people, so the whole of our identity is tied to the society we exist in. All the choices we make and the way we view ourselves is framed by how other people will perceive it. Even people who are rebelling or saying they don't care what others think of them are responding to others existence. Which, I mean, still do what you want who cares really, but kinda interesting to think about.

I do agree though it can be dangerous to tie your mental health to outside approval, if you aren't the one setting the terms of your worth things can get bad fast. This is especially true with the idea of fame where the relationships you are building are fleeting and often really one sided. Fans can feel like they intimately know someone who is famous, while the famous person never really knows anything intimate about their fans in the same way. I think that's why there's always this craving for more growth, you're never satisfied with the level of attention your getting because it's not associated with solid relationships involving give and take, where people actually know you on a personal level and not just through what you show to the public. It can become really addictive, because you get a little rush of satisfaction from these brief mostly empty interactions with people and then either they're done with you, or you start getting desensitized to it and only get that rush again when it's even more people praising you. So being somebody is maybe something you can't ever reach because it's a goal post that's always moving.

Or I've been awake for close to 24 hours. It's one of those.

Being a "somebody" vs. a "nobody" is just an arbitrary classification that people invented, and people can and will define it however they want.

In the end though, concepts are just concepts. In reality, people are not "somebodies" or "nobodies", they just are what they are.

Often people will try to define themselves by just listing the conceptual buckets they fit into, like "Asian, male, young person, artist, introvert, "good person", "INTJ", "person who likes animals", "somebody / nobody", etc.

But the reality of who you are isn't something you can intellectually define, you can only perceive it directly by paying attention without trying to mentally fit yourself into random categories.

I work at a sports apparel company and we do a lot of work with local little league teams. Occasionally, people will come to pick up uniforms or get help and I help directly with people too. That gives me a sense of being a somebody. When someone thinks "I need help from someone" and they think about me.

There's certainly more of that sense than drawing comics which is just pure solitude. I went to a manga artist panel a number of years ago and I still remember when he asked the audience if anyone would go to cafes or the like to draw, a few people raised their hands, and he said you shouldn't do that. Comic artists work best in solitude. But you can still be a somebody if you do local conventions or are able to get your work out to people and touch their hearts. I haven't reached those levels yet though.

I worked at a local gallery for about 5 years, during that time was when I got engaged to my husband. There was one customer who I met a couple of times and she noticed my ring so I explained I was engaged. Not long after, she came back and gave me a gift certificate to a local restaurant as an engagement gift! Even though I was just the sales associate at this gallery and we only talked a couple of times. That made me feel like a somebody too.

It's all about making it worth it in your eyes. For me it's worth it, I've met people who care about me, people I've made a positive impact on and most of all, I have a good enough life that gives me the ability to get up every morning. I guess a nobody is just someone who can't justify their own value with things and people they love. Of course a 'nobody' can always become a 'somebody' given enough enough effort and help.