I must move! What is it that we biological human organisms desire? To move!

What is my passion in life? To move. To move myself, to move weight, to move ideas, to move products, and to move people.

In fact, when I think about it, the reason I hated my 95 job so much is that it restricted my movement. Being stuck in a cubicle preventing me from being out and about, walking. In fact, what I love the most about living in the city is my ability to walk around freely. To me the worst existence is to be stuck at home all day, regardless of how huge or nice my house might be. Or similarly speaking, to be forced to be stuck at the office all day.

To bet on crypto, Bitcoin etc is actually to bet for the demise of fiat currency. Thus when the traditional stock market is tanking, it is a very good sign for cryptocurrency.

A thought —

While everyone wants to create a billion dollar company, or a billion dollar brand, etc … perhaps we should go back to some old-school notions.

The original notion of this nomadic, world-witnessing photographer. A photographer whose life task is to witness as much of the world (planet earth), and photograph as much of human existence possible.

Beware who owns the platform. Even if he become the number one person in virtual reality, or the number one person on the oculus/meta-platform, you still don’t have full control. In theory, Facebook can just strip away all of your items, equipment, points, and virtual money. Who holds the keys?

Also another unrelated note: even if you’re the richest person in China, because there is no notion of individual freedom and liberty, it doesn’t really matter. Overnight the government could just take all of your stuff, belongings, wealth and money without you having any say.

Even though there are a lot of bad things about America, to me, the notion of individual liberty seems apex.

Many individuals think that the purpose of life is to maximize one’s pleasure. For example, maximizing your sexual pleasure, maximizing your aesthetic pleasure, maximizing your pleasure from possessions, things, food, and lifestyle.

But, pleasure for the sake of pleasure isn’t the goal. One of the very interesting ideas I got from the book Ready Player Two is thinking —

If you could indeed record your physiological state, and your pleasure, and have somebody else experience it, what is the purpose of pleasure in the first place?

I think pleasure is best described as a feeling of ascending power. For example, when you make money, get more money, or see your investments go up, there is a certain feeling of pleasure, which is good because it feels as if we are becoming more strong and powerful.

For myself, some of the greatest pleasure that I get is when I attempt a new one rep max, and I achieve a new personal record. And the funny thing is even if I fail my one reo max attempt, there is also a certain pleasure associated with me having the courage to attempt it in the first place. Also a sense of relief that after attempting a one rep max and even though I failed, I did not injure or hurt myself.

Also, there’s a certain pleasure from thinking, or obtaining interesting ideas. Perhaps the ideas themselves are totems of power, knowledge, and ascendance.

Ironically enough there is also a sense of pleasure associated with restraint, or abstinence. For example, when I see everybody else around me eating cake, and I decide to abstain, there is a certain pleasure that I have in knowing that I have this restraint, and self willpower, and also self knowledge knowing what food is bad for me. Also perhaps the feeling of pleasure from feeling superior.

What we desire is not pleasure in itself, but, the feeling of ascendancy, growth, and becoming stronger and more powerful.

Therefore, it is good that we humans can feel pleasure, but avoid getting suckered by the notion of pleasure for pleasure sake.

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If you have the option in life, do not opt for steady.

Photos from the life of Seneca, ERIC, and Cindy:

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It is man which sets values on things, and all beauty goes back to man. Ultimately, all value is deeped in the social, in relationship to one another, with man being the judge.

Therefore, the more that we could optimize and design around human beings, the better.

If you want motivation to make photos, just go on a hike. Or make photos at home, or go on a walk around your neighborhood.

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Anything you could invest in, which allows you to walk more in a given day is good.

Minimalist shoes, hiking, mobile lifestyle. Living in a downtown city area. The luxury of not owning a car, and being able to walk everywhere, and even walk to buy groceries.

In life, the best optimization to do is optimizing your lifestyle to walk more. The truly privileged person is the individual who can walk the most. Also, maybe it is better to brag about your daily step count, than your bank account or your possessions.

What is a Luxury, and what is not? Simple: everything is relative to another. What seems like a luxury today is because what we compared to the past. For example, fast and free Wi-Fi and high-speed Internet is a luxury, but we no longer consider it a luxury because it is so wide spread and ubiquitous.

Having clean tapwater is a luxury, especially after spending a lot of time in Mexico City. Yet nowadays, we take it for granted. Same goes with stable electricity and power, as I observed in Beirut Lebanon also, the luxury of having trash pickups.

One man’s luxury is another man’s normal.

Are you truly unique, or just a subtly different iteration of others around you?

The best way to become more unique is creative isolation. turning a blind eye to social media, current events, news, and the concerns and desires of others. Also, caring less for the well-being of others. Also, not wasting your breath to criticize or critique others, but also, not wasting your breath to praise or admire others. “Nihil admirari” (admire no one). Only admire yourself.

In life, vanity is good, but only if the vanity is deep. Shallow and superficial vanity is a detractor and a distraction.

For example, pride in one’s possessions is a very superficial form of vanity. A better source of vanity is the vanity you get from your artworks, your character, or your own personal innovations.

Pride in your physical strength is a good thing. Also pride in your personal courage.

Make it easy and simple. Why? Things which are more easy to use or do will be used more. Easy things have greater utility.

How do you make things easier? Make it simpler. Fewer options, make it more intuitive, and make it more automatic.

Also, better interoperability. The reason why I really like Coinbase as a platform for buying, selling and trading crypto is because it is so easy. It automatically linked to my bank accounts super easy, buying and selling is easy, albeit there is a fee. I see Coinbase as the new PayPal but for cryptocurrency.

Same goes with PayPal. The reason why I like to use PayPal for my workshops is it is so easy. Easy to accept payments, and send them. I think this is why people are like Venmo so much — it is the easiest way to send money to friends and family.

So when it comes to design matters, strive to make it easier and simpler. The easier the better.

For example, the best shoes are the ones easiest to take on and off.

With cameras, the best cameras are the ones in which it is super easy to take pictures.

No appliances. The best appliances are the ones that make it very easy to use. For example, the Nespresso machine is very easy. Or, the Ronco rotisserie chicken maker is just “set it and forget it.” Also nowadays, air fryers are becoming very popular because they are so easy to operate. I also like the ease of use of the instant pot, as well as the crockpot slow cooker.

In terms of food, I found the easiest to cook and eat are eggs. Why? They are relatively cheap, stay fresh in the fridge for a very long time, and are very easy to cook and clean up. More recently, I really like frozen burger patties, as they are very easy to cook, eat, and clean up. I don’t even need to defrost the frozen burger patties, I can throw them straight on the grill and cook them until they defrost. or you could just air fry the frozen burger patties, set it for about 12 minutes, and just return later and eat it. Set it and forget it is great for cooking.

With camera settings, P program mode is the easiest. And just use autofocus and auto ISO to keep things simple and easy.

The cult of “hard”

One thing I find very strange nowadays is this obsession with doing things which are hard and difficult. It seems that for a lot of people, they only pursue things which are hard, as a form of self flagellation. That their self worthiness is only dependent on how much pain they experience, and how much they suffer.

Also, people who pride themselves too much on doing things manually is also a shallow form of vanity. For example, a lot of photographers like to brag or show off that they do everything manually, but, what is the most important is the image you create. The technical settings do not matter.

There are also certain photographers like to brag how they process and develop their film and scan it all by themselves, as if using somebody else to do it is a form of “cheating” or less legitimate, or less worthy. Doing things which are easy is not cheating, it is smart.

Also avoid things which seem more “optimal“, or things which are more “minimal“, but less easy to use. Some of the worst design compromises are when people create new products which are smaller, more minimal, and seem more advanced, but which are actually much more difficult to use.

For example, the new iPhones. Are they easier to use, or more confusing and difficulties? I stay there are far more difficult to you, and therefore inferior.

Also, a lot of more expensive or luxury products are just simply easier to use. For example, the Uppababy baby car seat and stroller is seen as more expensive and luxury, but in fact, I think it is worth it because it is just so easy to use.

A Camera which lures a lot of photographers is the Leica M rangefinder camera. But it is not a good camera, as it is not easy to use. However, when you do set it to zone focus at f8-f16, use ISO 800-1600, and you could set it and forget it, it becomes very easy to use. Therefore, whenever possible, strive to use the simplest technique, approach, and settings possible.

Avoid complicated for the sake of complicated, and avoid complex for the sake of seeming more intelligent. Simpler and stronger words, and simpler and stronger arguments.

Once you got perfect, then what?

Our goal is we must go beyond perfection.

Then focus on just play? Having fun!

“Just have fun with it”

Also just don’t take things too seriously.

No more need or desire to optimize things. Rather, “unoptimal” is better and our new luxury.

Also, art. Art does not need to have a functional purpose, nor should it. The notion of perfect art is a non-concept. Thus, creating any art which delights us is our new luxury. also, the notion of perfect art is a non-concept. Thus, creating any art which delights us is our new luxury. Nonperfect art.

Also in praise of fashion. There is no such thing as a perfect person and it always goes in waves.

Not hunger but the desire to consume more is the motivator.

Once you’re perfectly satisfied, then what?

Or once you got everything perfect, then what?

Not “does the world need it”, but “do you need it”, or do I need it?

And if you care badly enough, be the one to make and create it.

Something that I am actually very personally curious about, in which I do really care for, is figuring out how that we could maximally thrive.

What does it mean to thrive? For us to have the maximum peak health and motivation, the maximum strength, the maximum uplifted mood, and energy, and the best gratitude towards life. And hopefully channel this great healthiness for your artistic, philosophical, and personal ends.

Some quick thoughts:

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What actually interests you, and why?

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A thought on my mind:

When it comes to finances, time, design, etc … how much buffer is enough buffer?

For example, with liquid cash (USD in your checking or savings account) — how much is enough?

For example, it seems wise to get to the airport early. People say get to the airport at least an hour early for domestic flights, at least 2 hours for international flights. But for myself, I add at least an hour of buffer for each — 2 hours early for domestic flights (even though I got TSA pre-check), and at least 3 hours for international flights (also, we don’t check in luggage or baggage — only carry on). And the upside is that I actually like hanging out at airports — so I am able to get the upside of both. But a big lesson:

When in doubt, spend extra money to *NOT* have to go on that early-morning flight.

I prefer flights in the afternoon, so I don’t need to sacrifice my sleep in order to get to the airport early.

Back to the financial buffer thing

A simple thought:

If you don’t think you got enough financial buffer, you probably don’t.

And also with finances, when in doubt, add more buffer. Because having additional cash lying around can be a very good thing, for example, when Bitcoin dips you can buy more at a discount.

Because black is so impractical.

We are always in motion, even when sleeping, resting or napping. Why? Our bodily chemicals are always moving. And our body actively is rebuilding while we sleep and rest. To sleep much is also a virtue in body building, muscle building, strength building.

What is death? When our bodies no longer move — either internally or externally. No more breathing.

Source—

Plato, Theaeet. 160d .
Homer, and Herakleitos, and the whole company which say that all things are in motion and in a state of flux. Cf. 152 D. H.
Plato Kratylos, 401d.According to Herakleitos all things are in motion and nothing abides.Cf. 402a, and frag. 41; also 412d, 440c.

1. For camera, RICOH GR III.
2. For laptop, maxed out MacBook Air space grey
3. For phone, the newest iPhone Mini
4. For mirrorless strap, HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV in PHANTOM BLACK. For Ricoh GR, ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II.
5. For wallet, ERIC KIM WALLET

After much experimentation, I think I’ve discovered the perfect outfit:

1. For T-shirt, black merino wool Outlier.nyc shirt model 1.
2. For shoes, all black Nike free 5.0. No socks.
3. For leggings, black Uniqlo heattech leggings. For shorts, black Uniqlo ultra stretch athletic shorts.
4. For boxers, ex officio black boxer briefs.
5. For glasses, Lindberg. Titanium for maximum lightness. In black.
6. No watch. Neither Kanye West nor Elon musk wears a watch. In an interview Elon Musk said he doesn’t wear a watch, if he needs to check the time he just checks his phone. Apple Watch, no matter the model is bad because it will become outdated, and you need to charge it. If you do really really want to watch for aesthetics, just get a Rolex.

All clothes in size medium.

Better to produce your own adrenaline internally, then getting it secondhand or elsewhere.

For example, in the world in which we got porn, and even virtual reality porn, POV porn, etc., what is the purpose of pursuing women in real life? I say it is a matter of hormone secretion, receiving the hormone signals from the woman, and the difficulty in drama between you and the woman. Because if you are watching videos or images of a woman on a computer, and it is all already pre-recorded, there is actually no interaction between you and the woman. Whereas in real life, if you try to stare or make eye contact with a beautiful woman, there is the risk that she will notice you doing so.

I think this is the real joy of “pick up artists, etc — The joy of the difficulty in challenge of charming a woman and exercising ones personal charm and prowess, rather than the actual sexual act. Imagine an alternative approach in which the goal wasn’t actually to bed somebody, but, the joy of just the social interaction.

Passive versus active adrenaline

I always thought it to be a bit bizarre how so many people are into sports. But this is what I’ve realized: The reason why people love sports so much is that you put yourself in the shoes of the athlete, and you think you are the athlete, dominating the competition.

And when we witness this, we get a huge boost of adrenaline, and uplifting hormones, which we get secondhand from watching the athlete.

But, this is all passive. Isn’t it better for you to just play the sport yourself?

What is the best life like? A life of leisure. A life in which you have maximum mind space, as few distractions as possible, and supreme focus.

Also, I’ve discovered that you need lots of lots of leisure, and lots of lots of mindspace, and lots of free and undistracted time, in order to have interesting thoughts. I think this is why true philosophers of the past needed abundant leisure in order to come up with interesting thoughts, or even have the mindspace to ruminate on thoughts, reflect, meditate, and then write and share their ideas.

Much of modern society and living our distractions, “the siren of luxury”. But, what we really seek is leisure, not luxury.

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The solo stack, the solo solution. This means only pursue things that you can do by yourself, things that you could do solo. Being able to do things and create things without needing the skills and expertise of others.

Lessons I’ve learned on becoming a new parent:

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What drives my personal curiosity is not finding answers, but having certain interesting questions to mull over.

What is philosophy anyways? To me, it is about challenging conventions, and wondering why things are the way they are, or trying to challenge the purpose of things.

My thought:

Rather than bemoaning everyone is always on their phone, isn’t it better to just discover new and more virtuous ways to use your phone?

Simple ideas:

1. Blog and write from your phone. IA WRITER and WordPress app. Or just directly blog from your phone using the Safari web browser.
2. Use Apple photos to review and select your photos. Nowadays what I’ve been doing is using my MacBook laptop to import my Ricoh GR III JPEG images, and when it is all sync on iCloud, I could also flag select and filter my photos from the Photos app on my phone.
3. Use Zen Brush 2 app on iPhone to make calligraphy on the go.
4. Use Procreate app on the iPhone to make abstract images, or to glitch and edit your photos.
5. Read books, e-books an EPUB format with the built-in books app on the iPhone. Honestly, the Books app on iPhone is one quadrillion times better than the Google play equivalent. For me this is enough to justify never buying another android phone ever again, and only sticking to iPhone.
6. Use voice dictate, and Siri voice dictate to take out notes. Also, nowadays a lot of my blogging is just done through my voice.

What’s the purpose of humanity — for what? Wherefore? Towards what end?

Silicon Valley says—

Let us all get on a spaceship and ditch this dying earth! To Mars and beyond!

The socialists and Christian say: “let us end suffering on planet earth! No more pain and suffering for anybody!”

The utilitarians say: “let us make everybody equal on planet earth! Let us create a society in which nobody needs to work or labor or toil anymore, in order for all of us to pursue our own creative and artistic ends!”

My practical thought is this: don’t concern yourself too much with “humanity“. Rather, focus on your solo self.

With design and life matters, strive to make it as simple and minimal as possible.

What if the world doesn’t need “saving”? Then what?

Mobile computers (phones), more walking (30,000 steps a day challenge), mobile website design, mobile apps, mobile platforms, mobile living (mobile homes, the new “overlander” movement), hiking, travel, nomadic living, etc.

Let personal curiosity, personal enthusiasm and fun and play drive and motivate you. Not money, “success”, etc.

What if in the future, maybe 30 years from now, you could buy a house with just one bitcoin?

For example, the number of bitcoin you own might not change, but, the value of each individual bitcoin will go up. Especially, as the public slowly but surely will lose faith in Fiat currency.

EK EK EK EK EK
I can do this all day day
Walking with the thoughts, I got a verbal AK
I spray and shower, don’t count hours or days or care to amaze.

I stay focused on myself- my self passion, my life. My kid and my wife.

Why impress others?

It gives us a power boost, or self esteem boost. The ego which feeds itself based on the feedback and reactions of others.

But what if you no longer care to impress others? Is it possible for a certain ego to feed on itself, without needing to recourse to impress others? Or in other words, is it possible to increase your ego, in isolation? I think so. As long as you have access to the Internet, and can publish your thoughts and artwork.

Always challenge the Why? of something.

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A Hidden bias I’ve discovered within photographers is this: it is often said that if you shoot a photo of somebody else’s artwork, it is a very little artistic worth. For example, let us say that you’re walking around the San Francisco mission district and you see a piece of street art that you love. You photograph it. But inherent in that, you have identified something that you found worthy to be photographed, you select the exposure of the photo, and you decide whether to shoot it in black-and-white. This is all a creative act.

Now , there is certainly a hierarchy of things. I actually do think that there are certain things that we do which are more creatively innovative than other things. But, ask yourself whether you’re aiming for originality, or just having fun and being creative for the sake of being creative.

In photography, in order to make more powerful and enigmatic and interesting photos, best to show less. For example when you’re framing, don’t show the whole story, just show one portion that you find the most interesting. Let the imagination of the viewer do the rest.

Right now, everyone wants to become YouTube famous, or Instagram famous, or now even TikTok famous. But, if you use any of these platforms, you become a digital indentured servant. It is called digital sharecropping, which is, you build your land and platform on someone else’s land, thinking it is yours, but in actuality, it is not. You have no control. And even if you become the richest person on YouTube, you’re still a slave to YouTube-Google. Even if you’re the number one most followed person on Instagram, you’re still a slave to Facebook.

TikTok seems to be the new up-and-coming competitor, yet the reason why we should be very suspicious and wory of TikTok is that ultimately it belongs to a Chinese corporation.

Soft censorship

The thing that is interesting about social media is that they do not overtly sensor you, rather, they only low-key and soft sensor you. For example, if you say something which is controversial or anti-the terms and conditions of the given platform, they will either not show it in the newsfeeds of your followers, reduce the ranking, or maybe get rid of it all together. A lot of people in Internet rally that certain corporations are tyrant centers, but they also fail to realize that in fact, in America corporations are not bound by free-speech. Conceptually and legally in America, we are given the right to free speech. But, if you use Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube or any other platform, these are not government platforms.

Even a tangentially related notion is that regarding Tesla, and Tesla vehicles. I’m not 100% sure about the terms and conditions of Tesla vehicles, but technically you do not really 100% own your car. I believe legally, you are not allowed to hack or modify the firmware, and also even if you purchased the auto pilot self driving feature, it is under the terms and conditions of Tesla.

You control the platform

If you pay for your own website hosting, and if you use an open source platform like wordpress.org, you own the platform, and you own yourself. Just like Jay Z said, until you own yourself you can’t be free, until you own yourself you can’t be me.

Why become an owner, and why own things?

When it comes to publishing your artwork or thoughts, this is what I have learned: if you do it on any social media platform, it will ultimately ruin and harm you. How? It seems that essentially all social media platforms are predicated on metrics. Likes, comments, views, chairs, etc. Therefore, if you start to become trained to think that the worthiness of your artwork or thoughts is predicated on these metrics. And also, slowly but surely overtime, you start to only create and share things which will placate to a popular audience, or to your followers.

And we all know that popular is bad. If popularity was the most important thing in the world, then McDonald’s the best “restaurant”, Starbucks would serve the best coffee, Netflix would have the best cinema, Facebook would be the best publishing platform, and a Toyota Corolla would be the best car. Also, that smoking is good, drinking Coca-Cola is good, and sugar is good.

Why blogging is great

I still think that blog is very underrated. Because if you have a thought, opinion, photo or video, audio, or artwork, they can be represented in a digital way, the blog is the ultimate publishing and sharing platform. To publish something is essentially free and instantaneous, can be edited at any time, and you could combine any amount of media on your blog or in a given blog post.

Also, hyperlinking. The ability to link within your own website, and to link to outside websites, this is essentially the foundation of the Internet.

The difference between an aspirational reality, and that lived reality this: the aspirational lifestyle is what we desire to do, or how we desire to structure our days in our lives. The lived reality is based on your experience.

For example, aspirationally we like the notion of black cars, and black phones and black devices, and black clothes. But if you live in hot and sunny Southern California, or any other hot weather city you will quickly discover that black is very bad. A black car is the worst type of color if you live in Southern California, as you literally spend 90% of your day cleaning your car, waxing your car, and also blasting your AC to keep your interior cool. Also, the downside of a black car in Southern California is longevity. Paint of black cars simply don’t last. Even if you get a matte black wrap on your car, it might only last three years tops.

Even something subtle I’ve discovered is that living in Southern California, and when it’s really hot and sunny outside, if you own a black phone, it overheats very easily. When the phone is too hot, it automatically makes the screen much more dim, to prevent the phone from overheating. If you live in Southern California, buying a white iPhone is much more smart. Also, if you live in Southern California do not buy a dark car. The best car color for Southern California is either white, yellow, and if you want something more edgy, go for red.

Avoid dreams, or fantasies.

In America, we are taught that having a dream is a good thing. The dream job, the dream lifestyle, the dream girlfriend or wife, the dream car, the dream everything. Even Martin Luther King Jr. said I had a dream. But is having a dream such a good thing?

If you think about it, dreams are not real. When you sleep, you have a dream which is not rooted in reality. I say better than dreams is challenges. Because a lot of peoples dreams are materialistic and consumptive dreams. But the true order of things is to do, create, be active, and change and accomplish things. Therefore, if you set certain challenges for yourself, you actually have the opportunity to use your strength and ingenuity to attempt to achieve these challenges. And once you’re done with the challenge, make an even greater one.

For example, if you’re somebody who is always out and about, maybe it does make sense for you to spend a lot of money on your phone. But if you’re mostly homebound, don’t waste your money on the phone, especially if you don’t even use your phone to make phone calls much.

Also, I thought: now that I spend so much time outdoors, walking 30,000 steps a day, to me it actually makes sense for me to optimize the design for my website to be mobile first. Why is that? Because now, I am mobile first. Nowadays, I think I spend less than 30 minutes a day in front of my laptop.

If you’re at home all day, or working from home, you probably don’t need a laptop anymore. Just get a Mac mini.

First thing about your life, and your lifestyle, and then the products after the fact.

In America, and I suppose elsewhere in the world, products are an aspirational thing. That is, we want to buy the all-wheel-drive Subaru in order to do more hiking and camping and nature stuff.

Similarly speaking, we want or we think we want to buy a certain camera in order to do more photography, which is our passion.

Similarly speaking, the Lamborghini is also an aspirational thing, as we think that by buying the Lamborghini it will make us cooler, sexier, more powerful, more confident, and more egocentric.

Same goes with Apple products: we think that by buying the newest iPhone, or the newest apple something will make us more technologically suave, more current, more modern, more productive, more efficient, and happier.

With Tesla, we think that buying the Tesla will make us more superior, more futuristic, and also make our lives more efficient, and proud.

The best advice for new parents, or parents to be

Funny enough, the best advice I got about becoming a new parent is this: choose a password for your computer that you could type with one hand. My personal takeaway is this: get a phone that you could use with one hand easily, and also with your less dominant hand. In other words, no matter how good the iPhone pro may be, only buy an iPhone mini.

What is this? In lived reality, when you have a kid, you are typically holding the kid with one arm, and doing something else with other arm. For example, holding the baby with one arm, and using your other hand to warm up the bottle, or holding the baby with one arm, and using the other arm to open and close doors. Therefore the simple take away is this: we should optimize for one handed design. That is, being able to easily use your iPhone with one hand.

The genius of Steve Jobs was that at least with the original iPhone 4s, which is probably the last iPhone that he guided, he made the point that one should be able to reach every single corner of the screen with just their thumb. Even when the original iPhone 5 came out, there was a huge hubbub, because honestly, the only reason they made the iPhone 5 a little bit taller, was to add a few inches of screen to their marketing materials, which was in order to drive more iPhone sales, rather than considering whether it was actually the right design choice.

Even nowadays, the drive for the iPhone to keep getting bigger and bigger is a bad one. It is a slavish imitation of Apple copying Samsung phones, the whole “phablet” notion, in order to get more people to upgrade and buy the newest iPhone.

Your actual lifestyle versus your aspirational lifestyle

Much things in life are aspirational. That is, we desire to become something or become someone, and we desire to purchase certain products in order to become more of that thing.

Therefore, perhaps the wisest thing we can do is this: clearly identify what we are, what our current lived reality is, and whether we actually do want to live a different style of life, or mode of living.

Assuming life is a stream of becoming, then the best question to ask yourself is this: “What or whom do I desire to become?“

Certainly, you don’t want to become anyone else but yourself. And even if you wanted to, you physically cannot become anyone else but yourself.

I think it is good to have role models, and heroes. Yet, they should only serve as motivation and stimulus to you, for you to become more of yourself.

No the question is, what does it mean to become yourself? I say it is to identify your strengths, your Archimedes lever in life, and best maximize your energy and strength to exploit that. Also, to become less distracted and more focused. To become stronger, both physiologically (muscular strength) and mental strength (willpower).

And, it isn’t a matter of becoming rich or famous, or influential. Because even if you become a billionaire, you’re still you. The better question is asking yourself how do you want to build your body, your mind, and what kind of art do desire to create?

It isn’t pleasure seeking, or novelty seeking, or material gathering that we think is the goal. Even if you became a billionaire and bought every single exotic sports car on the planet, enjoyed every single sexual pleasure, and traveled everywhere in the world, you would probably bore quickly. Then your next true task in life is self development. And sharing your insights with others.

Filters are good.

For example, photo filters are good. To shoot without a filter and digital seems a bit silly.

Email filters are good. You only want to filter the most important information of signal to you, while filtering out the noise and spam.

Also if you think about it, all the photos that we make are our filter of our reality. We don’t photograph everything we see. We only photograph that which is filtered through our perception, and what we perceive is interesting.

Without a coffee filter, we would not be able to drink our delicious coffee.

Therefore I suppose the practical takeaway is this: filter wisely.

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Pain is good. Why? When you experience pain, it is your body telling you what not to do. A body that cannot feel pain would probably lead to death, or severely adverse health consequences.

Therefore as a practical note, don’t take painkillers. I haven’t taken a single painkiller in almost 8 years, why? I want the memory of the pain to embed itself into my memory, as if an instructor told me exactly what I shouldn’t do.

Same goes when I’ve had experiences of extreme stomach pain, from either eating spoiled food, or eating at unsavory places. This is what my pain has taught me— when it comes to food and beverages, when in doubt, throw it out.

Or similar experiences, the pain of sleep deprivision or sleeping poorly. This pain has taught me then saying importance of sleep. That sleep is 1 trillion times more important than any ounce of additional productivity I might be able to squeeze out. Thus, no more coffee after 12:00 noon. Also, in the evenings no exposures to screens, and also another note, don’t watch any movies or read books, as it often messes with your sleep and dreams.

Upload it, then delete it.

I use the ‘Downloads’ folder of my Mac Laptop as my ‘scratch drive’– in which every day, I have my working files there, and at the end of the day or night, I delete them. Same goes with my Desktop (where my screenshots on my laptop are automatically saved) — once I am done, I delete them.

What to do with files you’re not sure what to do with? Just upload them to you WordPress media blog, then delete them.

And when really in doubt, just delete it.

It is currently the year 2022– it is insane, we are living in the superfuture. But what do we want out of this uber futuristic current reality, and the future ahead of us?

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Just Use And Repurpose What You Already Got

Rather than buying something new — better to simply use what you already got at home (Cindy and I call this “home shopping”), and repurpose it, or rediscover it?

For example, instead of buying new clothes or new outfit, maybe it’s better for you to just dig into your closet and just wear something that you haven’t worn in a while. Also, even to use the clothes you already got, but to reconfigure it in new ways, or to match your outfit and unique combination is in itself a new outfit.

Rather than buying the newest iPhone, or any new device, maybe better to just uninstall superfluous apps from your phone to make it run faster, or just figure out new ways to use it in new creative ways? Or better yet, maybe it’s best for you to just use your phone less?

Maybe instead of buying a new car, best figure out how to modify and customize what you already got. Maybe it is more interesting to refurbish your old car, add new paint or a wrap, get new rims, or even figure out ways to shave off the emblems or superfluous elements from it? Even more clever, figure out ways to walk more, and drive less?

Maybe instead of buying new headphones, maybe it’s better to go more ghetto and just play music off the speaker on your phone? On your laptop? Or just listen to new music? Or actually listen to less music, and enjoy more peace and silence instead?

Maybe instead of buying a new house, moving into a new apartment, or remodeling or refurbishing your home, better to just go on more adventures outside of the house instead?

I forget who said it, but studying history as a good way to avoid mistakes in the present and future. Avoid the follies of the past.

In order to become a better photographer, think less. If you see something which interests you, instinctually photograph it without thinking. Do not think of the consequences, whether you might make somebody upset, or how you might be perceived.

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Similarly speaking, health isn’t the opposite of sickness.