30 Life Lessons Eric Kim has Taught Me about Photography, Life, Work, and Love

In celebration of Eric’s big 30th birthday, I (Cindy) made a list of 30 top things I’ve learned from Eric Kim—the generous educator, experimental photographer, and open and honest friend.

ON ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Hanoi, 2017
  1. “At the end of the day,” just ask yourself if your work, photography, or art made you happy. If so that’s enough.

  2. It’s OK to get bored of something, it means you’re growing and learning.

  3. Stay curious and have a child’s mind. Don’t constrain your childlike wonder by forcing others’ categories, concepts, and even opinions onto your work. Focus on playing, making, and learning.

  4. Why be afraid of other’s negative opinions of you? Be proud that you’re making something interesting and important enough to even generate an opinion (positive or negative). Also, if what you’re doing brings some joy or inspiration to 1 person’s life but makes 100 people “slightly annoyed,” it’s still worth it.

ON LIFE

Eric’s Birthday, 2010
  1. Don’t be afraid to ask why? And then afterwards, ask why again. and again.

  2. When in doubt, be generous.

  3. The purpose of life is to make art and share it. Art includes almost everything as long as it’s genuine to your own heart.

  4. We don’t need much to be happy. For example, a simple meal, a patented “Eric Kim egg snack,” a walk in the park makes our day.

  5. Humans are resilient. We adapt and get stronger from discomforts and challenges in our life. The purpose of life is not to just survive by adding comfort and stability. The purpose of our life is to thrive! (#thrivival #thrival)

ON WORK

  1. If it’s 80% good enough, then publish and share it. It’s better to do something somewhat good (perfection does not exist) and share it rather than never share it. Our work can constantly evolve with new incrementally better iterations.

  2. We can either do the safe thing, but keep doing it a little better and better. Or we can just experiment and try something new!

  3. When considering the consequences of a decision or the future, imagine the worst case scenario. After you visualize and make concrete that fear, it’s often not that bad. We can get through it!

  4. The future isn’t always certain. But that’s okay, just keep working hard.

  5. Often we’re the most happiest when we’re working on something meaningful. Ultimately, the rewards of your labor don’t matter as much.

ON LOVE

  1. Falling in love is really easy. Building a relationship and partnership is hard—that’s what makes it so fun and rewarding.

  2. We got married and now what? Being ‘happy’ is not enough. We must build a grand mission statement together.

  3. Every single day before we go to sleep we recount what we’re grateful for in that day. Reflecting on our wins and challenges helps to keep us grounded and always laughing.

  4. Laugh, all the time. We’re all silly little kids pretending to be adults. “We’re going viral!”

  5. Sometimes you set out to do something—like make a list of 30 lessons—and then you realize that the list is good as it is. It’s okay to change your plan. It’s not like you’re “failing” or “losing” by diverting from your original goal.

Happy birthday to my best friend, advocate, and partner!

Cindy

Hanoi, 2017 with Simon & Lisa