Month: March 2020

JUST SHARE IT.

Even if there is a .00001% chance that whatever you create and share has a chance of empowering 1 other human being on planet earth, it is worth sharing!

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GO LEGEND: ERIC KIM FREESTYLE POEM

GO LEGEND
you’re a boss
you are embossed with strength and virtue

know that your virtue can fly higher. Stay woke stay dope. Know that your hope is divine and within yourself. Rely on yourself, and your own wealth.

The future is strong and great. Don’t placate — stay straight!

ERIC

Why freestyle?

ERIC kim freestyle 1

To freestyle is insanely fun! I do it for fun. There is really no other reason.

Also,

I want to inspire, motivate, and empower others … just using my thoughts and voice.

Good old Horace once said:

It is best to both entertain and instruct.

This is one of my new goals.

ERIC

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ERIC KIM FREESTYLE RAP/POEM

ERIC KIM — filling to the brim. With the Dionysian wine and gin. Stay stim-packed like a berserker marine. Stay green with the miracle dream. Never ween off the coffee or juice. Stay loose and foot tight with your bright light goals. What is your next step? Only the world knows!

Continue reading ERIC KIM FREESTYLE RAP/POEM
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WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?

WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? What are you not willing to compromise for, no matter what?

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WE’RE AT WAR.

WE’RE CURRENTLY AT WAR. Not against a human enemy — but a biological enemy. Humans versus the virus.

Now is time for us to steel ourselves, and prepare for the harsh and cruel war we are about to experience as humanity.

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Tomorrow is Never

Never put off until tomorrow that which you would regret not doing if you died today.

What does this mean?

One day you will die. Live today as if you were gonna die tonight. And better yet — ‘regret minimization framework‘ from Jeff Bezos. This means:

Imagine you’re 90 years old and on your death bed. What would you regret having NOT done or attempted in your life?

Or better yet:

Imagine you knew you were gonna die tonight in your sleep. If so, how would you live today as if you wouldn’t die with any regrets?

Let this guide you!

ERIC

PHILOSOPHY by KIM

Dictate your meaning and purpose in your life with ZEN OF ERIC:

Philosophical Essays

Masters of Philosophy Â»

Personal Philosophy Â»

Stoicism Â»

Zen Philosophy »

Life Lessons Â»

Learn more: Start Here >

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ACTOR OR REAL DEAL?

We often criticize hypocrites for saying one thing and doing another. But what is a “hypocrite”?

I did some research and the Ancient Greek for hypocrite [hupokrínomai] actually means “stage player/actor”. So this is my interjection:

It isn’t a matter of contradicting yourself or not (because if you live long enough, you’ll eventually contradict yourself sooner or later). No. It is a matter of faking (playing an actor or “fronting”) vs being the real deal (having true beliefs).

Thus in life, it seems that our goal is to NOT FAKE and NOT PRETEND (pretentious) to be more than we are. It means for us to make ourselves naked, to wear our heart on our sleeve, and to not censor ourselves, and exclaim ourselves for who we are, and what we believe in and stand up for.

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FRESH AIR PHOTOS

Photos Which are a breath of Fresh Air. This is the type of photos I love.

  • cindy project
  • Water

Why fresh air is more important than ever.

Now that we are all stuck indoors all day, it seems that fresh air is more essential than ever. If anything, just going outside and being able to walk is the new luxury.

Do your photos give you a breath of fresh air?

My personal aspiration:

Make photos that when I look at them, I feel a huge breath of fresh air which re-invigorates me!

Let this be your new metric for your photos!

Fresh air photos

Some new photos which has given me a breath of fresh air! RICOH GR III and Lumix g9.

  • SELFIE BRIDGE
  • Tree
  • Tree

MOTIVATION BY KIM

ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II x Ricoh GR II x RICOH MAFIA Artwear
ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II x Ricoh GR II x RICOH MAFIA Artwear

Seek to supersede yourself and become more!

See all articles >

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WHY AM I SO MOTIVATED?

Where do I get my motivation from?

  1. My mom: She taught me self-esteem and self-confidence.
  2. My physical strength: My strong body and physiology motivates me to move a lot (literally to walk a lot), talk a lot, and to share a lot.
  3. My innate bull-shit detector: Whenever I smell BS, I get a great joy from trying to debunk nonsense.
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WHAT LEGACY DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE HUMANITY?

We will all die. At best we will live to be 120 years old. At worst, we will die tonight (or today).

Thus the question:

How can we live and direct our lives in a way in which we can leave a meaningful legacy to humanity?

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WHAT’S GONNA LAST? WHAT’S NOT GONNA LAST?

RICOH GR II x ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II #ricohmafia

LONGEVITY is what we are aiming for.

Obviously we do not have 100% control over what will last and what won’t last. But it seems this is the secret:

The secret of lasting (longer) is to NOT compromise your artwork for anything!

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WHY FEAR?

Obviously fear is a good thing, because it has kept us (human beings) alive for so long. But in today’s very safe world (relatively speaking), what is the new role of fear?

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TURBO PHOTOS

What a turbo photo? A photo which propels you and gets you going!

Dynamic angles

Selfie

Shooting at 24mm with Lumix G9, from an Uber low angle:

Let us draw in some perspective lines:

GIF:

Made in procreate and iPad:

Images that get you going!

Studying Stanley Kubrick is good, and his 2001 space odyssey.

Movies that get you going!

  • Abstract
  • Abstract red king Leonidas 300 Sparta

The movie 300. Anything which motivates you to move, create, and challenge!

Turbo compositions

Cindy abstract yellow
abstract cindy

What’s a good composition? A composition which propels you!

Study turbo photos from the greats, and make your own!

RICOH GR III high contrast black and white JPEG preset
light flare
ERIC KIM BODY MUSCLE FLEX
Alexander the Great
selfie red
street photography New Orleans
tree
street photography Lisbon

Don’t just study the masters. Also study yourself.

Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson Composition Simplified GIF
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WHEN IN DOUBT, BE BRAVE!

In life, the best way to increase your likelihood of making a profound and deep impact on humanity — maximal courage, bravery, and brazenness.

  • Abstract red king Leonidas 300 Sparta

Who is the enemy?

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11 Practical Photography Assignments You Can Do From Home! 😃📷

DOWNLOAD PDF TEXT: HOME PHOTO ASSIGNMENTSDownload

Originally sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER [see email here].

Dear friend,

Many of us are currently stuck at home, and it might be hard to stay inspired in your photography. Here are some practical words of encouragement for you:

  1. Selfie project: Shoot selfies of yourself! Shoot your hand, face, body limbs, silhouette, reflection, shadow, etc. You can shoot monochrome or color. Experiment with flash. You can also experiment shooting with -1 or -2 exposure-compensation (film noir black and white style).
  2. Shoot 4K video (or 1080p video), and take screenshots on your laptop of your favorite stills.
  3. Get on the ground and do 20 pushups as quickly as you can, then run around the house and shoot photos of anything which interests you. My theory: a hormonal rush from doing a bunch of pushups will give you a hormonal and creative boost, which can help you find more interesting things to shoot at home.
  4. Curate your portfolio. To curate means to select the photos you CARE for. You can also turn it into a slideshow of your favorite photos, and upload it to YouTube! Here is a YouTube tutorial of how I make iMovie slideshows on my Mac with my photos.
  5. Photograph interesting textures at home. Look around the house for gritty textures. Photograph the cheese grater at home. Photograph your carpet. Photograph your towels. Anything with textures is good!
  6. Shoot photos from your window. You might not be able to go outside, but you can still shoot outside!
  7. Start your photography website. I recommend bluehost.com and installing wordpress.org. How to build your own website here.
  8. Photograph your loved one. If you’re home with a roommate, child, partner, wife, husband, etc… photograph them! Photograph what and who you love.
  9. Face-time or video-call your friends, family, or anyone you care for… and shoot screen-shots of you two having a good time!
  10. Shoot a vlog and explain why you love photography. Then upload it to your blog.
  11. Upload your best #1 photo to arsbeta.com and get real feedback, and give feedback!

Time is tough, but remember friend–

What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger!

ERIC

What I’m reading right now

My current iBooks Library of eBooks Eric Kim
My current iBooks Library of eBooks

I find deep motivation and inspiration from reading, even when stuck at home. Some things I’m reading and really enjoying:

  1. The Iliad by Homer [Alexander Pope PDF translation here]
  2. Calvin and Hobbes comic (I grew up to this!). See PDF here.
  3. Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb (Kindle). Good essay by Nassim Taleb on Medium [for free here]. You can also find different download options on Penguin website (I read it on iBooks on my iPad).
  4. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley, free pdf here).
  5. The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides [free epub here]

Use this chance to catch up with great literature to inspire and motivate you to create more artwork!

Create like today were your last!

ERIC

Inspirational Films and Cinema to Motivate You From Home

2001 Space Odyssey
2001 Space Odyssey CINEMA

If you wanna watch some great cinema, here are some of my personal favorites:

  1. Ghost in the shell anime (1995)
  2. 2001 Space Odyssey
  3. 300 (SPARTA!!!!)
  4. John Wick (all of them are good. My favorites are the 2nd John Wick, then the 1st John Wick, then the 3rd John Wick)
  5. The Matrix (classic)

Suggestion:

When you watch these films, see them on your laptop and take screenshots of any stills you like!

ERIC

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