We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu
So, until I heard about this book, I didn’t know who Simu Liu was.
Don’t beat me up. I barely get to the cinema as often as I would like to (= I go on average once or twice a year). I watch very few superhero movies and are more familiar with the DC heroes of my youth. There have been so many movies in the Marvel superhero world that, at this point, I’m lost and have little clue who is who.
But when this book was published in 2022, it showed-up on all my book podcasts, websites, social media feeds, everywhere… This is not unusual for a book written by a famous actor who has a powerful marketing team behind him.
It was unusual that ALL the reviews were glowing assessments of the book. I mean, there was not a bad one. And that’s the reason why I bought the book. An actor who can write well. Let me check out his book..
And did it live up to the hype? Absolutely!!!!
Simu’s writing is tongue-in-cheek and frank. He carried me along from his parents’ humble start in China, through the years of the cultural revolution, to his childhood smothered with love by his grandparents. And then one day, his Dad shows up to take him to Canada. Simu describes his tumultuous relationship with his parents with such unflinching honesty that I could not help by admire his courage, as well as that of his parents.
We Were Dreamers is as much a motivational book as it is a memoir. The sections of the book about his abrupt departure from an accounting career and having no choice but to start exploring his real interests were back-to-back inspiration.
For most of his life, he had been expected to fit into a mould of good son, genius student and future scientist. Going against this expectation was unheard of in his cultural and family milieu, but eventually Simu realised that “The unknown is always scary, but not nearly as much as waking up one morning realising you have wasted your precious life in pursuit of someone else’s idea of a success. I choose the unknown, every time.”
But then how do you start to pursue this life that you want when you don’t have the first clue on what to do?
Simu discovered that “Owning a dream to me consists of two key components – declaring it to the world, and taking action. When you put your dream out into the universe you will attract those who dream the same thing, and who understand its struggles. These people will become your allies, your collaborators, your mentors and your guides. But it’s not enough to simply pay lip service to your dreams-you’ve got to walk that talk and act on your ambitions.”
If he had not thrown himself into all the “little” opportunities like being an extra for films, doing stunt-work, producing a short film and all the things he did, we probably might not have heard of him. because, each step he took, although seemingly tiny, in a way, led to other opportunities, which led to even more.
This is a good book to gift anyone who might be struggling to define and go for their dreams against what society tells them they should be doing. When you think about it, that’s all of us. So this book in a way is for all us.
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