Dear friend,

Why are we limited? Because we fear punishment from society.

We are limited creatively, because we fear that others will call us “childish” or “foolish”
We are afraid that if we publish something online, others will criticize us, or maybe even worse– ignore us.
We have been socialized ever since we were children to fear authority. Fear your parents, fear your teachers, fear of being homeless when you graduate college without a job.
Fear that you will “retire” without a pension, 401k, etc.
We buy tools, thinking that by not having them, we are at a disadvantage. The fear that if I don’t have the newest iPhone, I’m losing out to my peers.

My story

I was a wild child, but society strangled me. Put me in a cage. Told me to take tests, and shut up. If I went to school today, and my mom was some middle-class person, I would have probably been medicated with Ritalin, because I could not “pay attention” and sit down in class.

Creativity

To be anti-establishment is a good way to be free, and creative. No innovative person ever followed the same path as those who came before them.

Steve Jobs went to India, and sought enlightenment, while pursuing capitalism.

Elon Musk is setting out to innovate multiple fields, to prevent humanity from self-imploding.

Howard Hughes made the biggest plane in the world, and flew them. He was eccentric, weird, but did cool shit.

Picasso went against traditional art. Yet he kept innovating, and driving his work forward.

Kanye West made it cool for black rappers to wear skinny jeans and pink polo shirts. Jay-Z showed society that “black man” and “successful” could be synonymous. And he showed up on the cover of Forbes with Warren Buffett. Very cool.

ERICKIM NOW.

Even now I’m not as courageous as I would like to be. I often fear punishment from Cindy (her getting angry at me). I have learned to listen to her advice, but not always follow it.

Ultimately, I need to follow my own gut.

How could you pave a new path, if you don’t follow your intuition?

Ideas.

To be less fearful of being punished by society, some ideas:

Don’t listen to the news: it is all fear mongerering to drive ratings, clicks, etc. The more news you watch, the more fearful you will be of doing something new.
Piss someone off on purpose: Test what your punishment will be. See if defying your boss will lead them to respect you more, or get a warning of getting fired. Push the boundaries.
“Do you”: let everyone else do as they please and like. But don’t let them super impose their views and philosophies on you. Just mute the sounds of the sirens, and “Do you”– sail on your own uncharted seas.

BE STRONG,
ERIC

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101 by ERIC KIM

ERIC KIM x HENRI NECK STRAP by HAPTIC INDUSTRIES // Portrait by Benjamin Thompson

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