What do you lack in modern day life? Physical challenge, combat, hand to hand things.
I cannot speak for women, but for at least us men — the modern day man is like a sick animal. Anemic, lacking sun exposure to the sun, none of chutzpah, balls, and reckless audacity, preaches notions of sexual equality and women’s rights, yet watches pr0n in private, and doesn’t even lift heavy weights at the gym.
Why become a new Spartan?
Several reasons. First of all, ironically enough I think the Spartans were just happy. They lived a simple existence, full of martial training and combat, and they lived a simple ascetic life.
Also, anti-pampering. A soft lifestyle is bad, a hard lifestyle is good.
For example, let me talk to us tech nerds. What do we live for? We live for travel, exotic experiences, exotic foods, the newest Apple product which will revolutionize our lives, the new Tesla, buying a home, etc.
Yet, all of these life goals are superficial. They are soft. They don’t really require any sort of true innovation, they just require hard work and money.
What is in your control?
An interesting thought is one thing that we could control is what we desire. That this is actually something which is dictated by you. You can desire to want the Lambo, want to buy a home or own a home, have a certain amount of money, etc. But are these goals actually good? I think not.
My Stoic-Spartan ideal
And I think the ideal approach to things is a mishmash of stoicism, spartan, and zen.
That mentally, we have a stoic mindset to things. Which in short means we have a lofty insouciance to things, we are mostly unperturbed by things. That we take all of the good and bad in life in equal stride, and we realize that there is more in life we can control than not.
The spartan one is to become the overman. That means do not see yourself as a mere human being, but as something beyond. Certainly DNA wise you are just an ordinary human, however, your own ideals for yourself are so insanely lofty and beyond. That you set yourself insanely high standards, because you see yourself as different.
Zen in terms of our personal aesthetics. A Wabi Sabi aesthetic that the more used and worn something becomes the more beautiful it becomes. Also, to seek a sublime simplicity to things.
Spartan philosophy
If you read a lot of the sayings of the Spartans, they are poetic, hilarious and deeply philosophical. For example, the saying in the movie 300, which was actually based on real life — when the Persians told king Leonidas and the spartan 300s that their arrows would blot out the sun, and then one spartan said then we shall fight in the shade. I find this to be so insanely beautiful as a thought, because it takes something that was seen as fearful, and transforms it into fuel and fire to become even more courageous.
Also, a philosophical thought; would you trust the thoughts of an individual who is skinny fat to philosophize and more lies on matters of beauty, bravery, courage, and masculinity? No. I would rather trust the thinking and saying of a spartan then a modern day male academic.
Applying a spartan mindset to Street photography
I think I am the most courageous street photographer that I know. That I love people, and I am really good at talking to people, and strangers. All of the other street photographers why have met in the past seem to be timid, soft, and anti-human.
What do I mean by that? A lot of these weak street photographers try to augment their own low self-esteem by trying to tyrannize their own personal aesthetic and approach to things. They are very close-minded. They think to themselves, “it is either my way or the highway!” They lack independent thought — they cannot even think that everyone could do things a little differently.