Shadowing Practice: the desire to simply not exist - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I think that a rarely discussed but commonly felt desire is to simply not exist.
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This should of course be distinguished from its far more violent and permanent cousin,
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an act that admittedly still holds tightly to this longing for nothingness.
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But the former sensation is far more vague.
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To not have to experience this anymore.
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To never have been born, to go to sleep forever.
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I feel it when I'm embarrassed or ashamed.
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House parties with strangers, social rejection, isolation.
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Sometimes, at its heaviest, it springs forth from the paranoid pondering of solitary thought.
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Would I want to live on a dying earth?
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Am I a burden to others, am I enough?
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And sometimes I simply find myself condemned within a mind of misery.
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Within me emerges a deep longing to not be there, and sometimes to not be anywhere.
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In these moments, the hypothetical comfort of losing all awareness and sensation can be a little too inviting.
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Which is quite strange in a sense.
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In the presence of immense suffering and discomfort, we find this capacity to fetishize oblivion.
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Fetish is, I think, an appropriate word here, as it denotes the obsessive and frantic pursuit of a fantasy that will likely fail to live up to its hype.
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However, the pursuit itself, fetishization, is already of such an immense degree that this promise of dissatisfaction is soon forgotten.
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And so the struggle continues.
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But with this unique pursuit towards nothingness, we reach a radical attempt at this fantasy of non -being.
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If we succeed, we will never experience it fully.
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And that's kind of the point.
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We won't be satisfied.
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We simply won't be anything.
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But the escape hatch is always there.
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All that's needed are a few carefully drawn out plans, and more often than not some substance of pacification.
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The idea that one could step out, the fetishized alternative, to finally exit,
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lingers at every corner of self -hatred and boredom and despair and fatigue.
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I suppose it's this feeling that we have some autonomy despite it all.
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We have a say in the matter.
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But I'm always several steps behind from the practical planning process, and the moment of longing rarely lasts.
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It makes little sense.
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One moment of freedom for an eternity of nothing, of permanent silence.
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Is this a worthy sacrifice?
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I think not.
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There are enough paths to experience this sort of nothingness while still being able to stick around.
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Sure, there are those mini -deaths we engage in when life becomes too much.
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I scroll Instagram and sink into a burger and plunge into conscious nothingness, but rarely do I feel better afterwards.
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These small retreats from torment do little in the face of this godly ability to self -reflect on my own insignificance.
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Fortunately, there's also just enough moments I've experienced in my life
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that have made me feel this prospect of escape and simultaneously feel a preference towards being over nothingness,
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if that makes sense.
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Moments of the sublime, of pure awe in the face of something larger than myself.
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I'm nothing in the presence of a beautiful song or piece of art, or moments of shared connection between friends and lovers,
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or making something that others enjoy and perhaps even relate to.
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Those fleeting seconds that force me to stare into the fragility of it all, to realize that being itself is pure chance.
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My own existence is a brief moment awake.
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I'm barely anything to begin with.
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And that's perfectly fine.
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Because at every moment awaits some beautiful potentiality I am not yet prepared for.
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And I know this only because I've experienced it before.
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But if I give up now, there's no going back.
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non -existence will come to me soon enough.
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So why not stick it out for just a little bit longer?
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Thank you.

Who Can Benefit from This Video?

This video is ideal for intermediate to advanced English learners aiming to refine their speaking skills, especially for IELTS speaking practice. Its introspective tone and complex ideas challenge learners to grasp nuanced emotions, making it perfect for those seeking to move beyond basic conversation. Whether you’re working on articulating abstract thoughts or improving fluency in reflective dialogue, the video’s natural flow and vivid vocabulary offer rich practice material.

Words & Idioms Worth Stealing

  • Fetishize: To fixate on something to an extreme degree (e.g., "She tends to fetishize small details").
  • Oblivion: A state of being unaware or forgotten (e.g., "The old story faded into oblivion").
  • Sublime: Of such beauty it inspires awe (e.g., "The view from the mountain was sublime").
  • Escape hatch: A way to avoid a difficult situation (e.g., "Humor is her escape hatch from stress").

These terms add depth to your speech, crucial for scoring high in IELTS speaking practice or engaging in meaningful discussions.

How to Get the Accent Right

The speaker’s pace is deliberate, with pauses that emphasize emotional weight—key for conveying introspection. To master this, use a shadowing app or shadowing site to mimic their rhythm. Focus on stressing words like "violent," "permanent," and "sublime" to highlight contrast. Notice how "nothingness" is drawn out to evoke longing; practice elongating the final syllable. For improving English pronunciation, repeat phrases like "the hypothetical comfort of losing all awareness" to refine vowel sounds in multisyllabic words. Pairing this with learning English with videos ensures you not only mimic sounds but also the emotion behind them, a vital skill for authentic communication.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.