A Taoist “wu-wei” concept. No need to force things; let things naturally resolve itself by letting go. Follow your gut. Much wisdom in purposeful procrastination. Only do work when your body is strong enough for it!

Overall, I am very bullish on crypto (cryptocurrency (Digibyte, Bitcoin), smart contracts (Chainlink), and other forms of cryptography in regards to security, decentralized financed, etc).

Why? It seems simple:

1. Our world is becoming more and more digitally connected and integrated. There needs to be more oracles (search the “oracle problem) which connect our digital world with our embodied world.
2. World governments becoming more fractured. Need for a unifying system in which commerce can happen *without* the interventions of governments, political parties, or centralized financial institutions.
3. More desire for privacy (the future is privacy. For example, if Google Chrome Incognito mode became a paid premium option … wouldn’t you pay for it?)

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In Providence I went to the local Roger Williams park and discovered by chance this Japanese zen garden, which is pure sublime. I had soooo much fun just running around and photographing all the textures, branches, trees, frozen waters, etc. Which made me truly appreciate the zen and visual sublime bliss of shooting nature … especially when Japanese Zen aesthetics are applied:

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We are hunting to get more and more, to procure more and more money, savings, etc in order to finally feel “secure”. But will we ever feel secure? No.

Thus it seems the practical advice is:

Don’t delay your artistic creativity, do it now, today.

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Wealth isn’t via positiva (having +++ tons of 1s and 0s and commas in your bank account). But instead, wealth as via negativa (wealth is good, as it *subtracts* your worries and concerns about money, paying rent, paying utilities, feeding yourself, etc).

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I just cashed out some gains I got from Bitcoin (cryptocurrency) and currently I feel very pleased and secure with my finances. But the thing is:

With cryptocurrency, you can be very rich on paper, but most of your cryptocurrency may not be liquid which means … your feeling of being rich and overly abundant in wealth is mostly a mental thing.

Which makes me think and philosophize:

Perhaps we should address wealth from a mindset and mental thing … not an objective numbers-based thing.

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In arts, creativity and life — to become more uninhibited is superior!

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When in doubt, optimize for speed. Speed will always win — when it comes to business, entrepreneurship, workflow, and life:

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What is one of the greatest joys in life? Meals with friends, family and loved ones.

Morale of the story:

To feel more joy in life, have *MORE* meals with others you love and care for!

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My vision of open source art:

Release your artwork openly and freely to the web. Open standards like PDF, JPEG, RAW, TIFF, PNG, .ZIP, etc.

No need for copyright, watermarks, DRM (digital rights management), or other “protections”. Artwork wants to be free, and we love artwork which is open and free!

Direct downloads, from your own FTP server, or public download links via Dropbox/Google Drive. The encouragement of sharing, being open, and having your art be decentralized!

In this game of art, you’re the artist. You’re the creator, curator, and taste maker.

You don’t require the permission or validation of any other external party besides yourself. No need to quote others, piggyback off others, or build your clout off others.

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Everywhere I look, design is king.

For example think about Apple, Steve Jobs, and Jony Ive and now Tesla and Elon Musk. Since then, designers are the new demigods of society.

If we consider design and art as one in the same (I see design as artwork, applied in society, made practical and useful) then we realize that design and art is essential in life for human flourishing!

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Why eat meat? Why *not* eat meat?

I have yet heard a philosophical argument *for* meat-eating. All new-agey philosophy and modes of thinking are staunchly ANTI-meat eating. Or for the more ‘woke’ folks (who don’t want to openly admit to liberal-elite educated circles that they like to eat meat), they will say they only eat meat ‘once in a while’ or ‘in moderation’ or ‘only grass-fed humanely slaughtered meats’ or they say ‘they no longer eat red meat, only chicken breast or other white meat’.

Some philosophical thoughts on meat-eating:

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Consider —

All these new buildings and monuments which are built in devotion to the ‘arts’ and ‘creativity’ and ‘creative arts’.

Why are these things important?

Once we have made a ton of money, and want to leave some sort of legacy … we want to impart the gift of entrepreneurship, arts, techniques, theater, culture, and creativity to future generation … not just mere dollars and zeros for the sake of it.

The end of all wealth, success, and society is the creative arts.

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Currently I am at my peak physical condition. Deadlift is at 455 pounds (I can do more), Squat is at 375, floor bench is at 265, etc.

I am convinced … one of the greatest joys I am experiencing right is the fact I am in peak physical shape, strength, and condition. I have never been this strong before in my life (I am currently 32 years old), and I know that my strength is still building and climbing. Extreme optimism for the future.

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Random thought:

Why is it that I can concentrate more when I am working at a coffee shop (with some stochastic resonance noise … aka small background noise), and why is it that I am also physiologically stronger at the gym surrounded by others (I gain more strength when I am weight lifting at the gym, instead of home).

Also — why am I more energized when I do an in-person (or virtual) online workout class versus doing it myself at home?

Thought:

Perhaps the randomness and chaos of other humans, and other human interactions is what keeps us mentally sharp. Having to judge others, judge yourself, when surrounded by other humans is what helps us keep in peak shape?

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Not to cleave to one lifestyle. Rather, as your life progresses, you allow yourself to *dynamically change* based on your circumstances and life.

This means:

There is not one perfect lifestyle for your entire lifetime … rather, think about lifestyle in *phases*.

For example, certainly your lifestyle as a teenager should be different from your lifestyle as a young parent. Same goes if you’re over 60 years old — your lifestyle should be different than what was in your 20’s.

Perhaps the desire to cling onto a certain lifestyle for a long period of time is fear of change?

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Honestly at this point, I believe Apple Photos (the default photos app for Mac) to be *superior* to Adobe Lightroom Classic for desktop.

Why? Some thoughts:

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Simply put:

The camera you always have with you, and is the easiest to shoot which allows you to shoot more … is the best camera!

This can be RICOH GR III, iPhone Pro, Google Pixel, etc.

Typically speaking, the best camera is:

1. Digital
2. Compact
3. Small
4. Lightweight
5. Fits in your front pocket (or easily around your neck or strap) // ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP or Henri Neck Strap.

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Ironically enough, failing my one rep max attempts at the gym is almost as good as successfully achieving new PR’s (personal records) for one rep max’s in my lifts.

Why? The big reason:

When I fail at a one rep max attempt, I realize … it ain’t so scary!

And this gives me huuuuuge new confidence and motivation.

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Creative photography is our pursuit. Thus the simple question:

How do we become *more* creative in our photography?

Some thoughts:

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As long as we are stuck in this cult of productivity and thinking of utilitarian aims and ends … we can never truly conquer creativity.

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We are all creative, yet it seems the *fear* is to be creative. How do we conquer this fear to create, and to perhaps … conquer creativity itself?

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Creativity is the goal of existence — to make art, and keep making it!

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Let us think deeply on this:

What do you *really* want in life, or *from* life … and for what ends?

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For me the ideal trifecta to build:

1. Your artistic muscles
2. Your physical muscles
3. Your philosophical muscles

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What is the ideal living domicile?

Some thoughts on the ideal home:

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I think I get this from Bruce Gilden as a photography assignment: shoot what you’re afraid of. Totally makes sense. If you see something which scares you, it probably interests you. And the more you can harness your fear and adrenaline in order to make more epic photos, the better.

Like Jimmy Iovine says:

Don’t let fear get in your way. Instead, you harness the fear and get it to push you ahead from behind!

What are we truly hungry for and searching for? Deeper photographic wisdom.

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Your opinion regarding your own photos is always in a state of flux and changing. Certain photos which you were super enthusiastic about one day, you might lose that enthusiasm over time.

Typically time is the ultimate judge. The longer you allow your photos to sit and marinate, you gain deeper wisdom and insight into your photos.

Thus to always be editing your photos means to always review your photos (new and old), and always re-upload and make new albums with old and new photos.

And the great optimism of always editing your photos:

You’re always being creative!

ERIC

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Something which endlessly fascinates me:

How to make the best composition of a given scene?

I was looking through some photos, and a simple realization:

The simpler the photograph, the more superior.

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When out shooting in the snow, shooting high contrast monochrome on Lumix G9, the best function is the ability to quickly adjust exposure compensation using the right thumb wheel.

Which made me think:

How come nobody ever talks about how essential exposure-compensation is in photography, and how it makes photographs more beautiful and artistic?

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Or why if your life goal is to maximize your photographic output, it’s best to live on the East Coast than the West Coast:

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We all know that in order to become stronger and more fit physically, exercise is essential. Same goes with our artistry. We need to exercise our creative and visual muscles. Some ideas and exercises you can do:

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We are not just mere photographers, we are also artists. But the thing is:

Some photos we create are *more* artistic than others.

For example, if I make a photograph of my grocery list receipt, I wouldn’t call it ‘art’ — I did it simply to record information. However, if I perhaps positioned the receipt in an intentional way, shot it in high contrast black and white, was mindful of the composition, framing, and light … I would consider it my artwork.

So the question:

What makes a photo ‘artistic’?

Some thoughts:

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What’s the best way to live life? Simple:

Do what scares you.

By doing that which scares you, you’re more likely to achieve epic things, and discover more interesting things about existence.

What is “scary” anyways? Something you want to do, but you’re afraid of the negative consequences of attempting it.

Thus once again … if you’re afraid of doing something, it actually genuinely means you’re interested or curious about it.

For example let’s say you’re afraid to invest money into cryptocurrency. Why are you afraid? You’re interested, but fearful that your money will go to $0.

Sure in life you can do many things which you’re afraid of, and you might still fail. You might hurt yourself, you might go bankrupt (Donald Trump), get into massive debt (Kanye West), etc. But fulfilling your personal curiosity about yourself, your limits and to treat life as an interesting experiment … isn’t it worth it?

Your photos are visual poetry:

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Chiaroscuro: the Italian word which means ‘clear‘ (chiaro) and ‘obscure‘ (oscuro). Thus in simple photographic terms, chiaroscuro is the art of extreme contrast (juxtaposition) between the clear and the dark in a photograph:

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The upside of winter and the snow:

More opportunities for beautiful images!

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A thought and realization:

In life, all experiences are good experiences.

This means:

No experiences are “good” or “bad” in themselves. All experiences meld and form you to become *more*.

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Barre is essentially dance classes meets yoga meets ballet-fitness. The reason why barre is so interesting to me — it’s perfect for weight lifters and power lifters. In fact I prefer it over yoga.

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STREET by KIM: New free photo e-book from ERIC KIM:

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Is there a science to art? Or perhaps science *and* art as the ultimate hybrid synthesis?

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The best way to live life!

What is mood? Mood is your physiological condition. How much energy, hype, motivation and energy you have in your muscles.

The trillion dollar question: how does one improve their mood?

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To be an artist isn’t enough … we must also become more entrepreneurial. 

The only artists who succeed … are a hybrid of good self-marketer, good self-brander, good self-promoter, and risk-loving entrepreneur. 

Or in other words:

No guts, no glory.

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By studying geometry, we can better understand the dynamic relationships of lines, shapes, forms, and planes in our photographic compositions. As a consequence, we become more cognizant of the dynamic visual forms in our photos when analyzing them, and also spot them intuitively when we’re out shooting photos!

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A realization while walking in the snow and shooting photos:

The purpose of photography is to be creative and create.

In some ways, all photos you shoot are creative. But at the same time, the joy of photography is to see how creatively ingenuous you can be with your compositions, framings, ability to spot and notice interesting arrangements of things, and the novelty of the world around us:

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Creativity is fun when you take matter and reimagine and retransform it into something else:

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For example, seeing a guy help another guy jump his snow-plow:

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What keeps me going? Creative optimism and self-motivation:

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If I could easily synthesize my primary 3 interests and passions, it has to be a combination of street photography, philosophy and entrepreneurship.

Why?

1. Street photography: This is just a more active and interesting form of sociology for me. I love humans, I am endlessly fascinated by society, life, lifestyle, and new modes of human living.
2. Philosophy: The *why* of things has always been interesting to me.
3. Entrepreneurship: My interest and passion in becoming self-employed, *NOT* to work ‘for the man’, and gain more freedom in life … in order to maximize my artistic and creative output.

I do believe being able to hone into the 3 primary things you are intensely interested and passionate about is hugely advantageous. Triangle (3) as enough variety, but not too much. Thus if you can discover your 3 passions and effectively cross-pollinate them, you’re onto something!

ERIC

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What are the best photos? The ones which impact you and the viewer the most:

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Life is a journey. As a photographer, your task is to document your photographic (and life) journey:

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In modern times, everyone wants to be ‘happy’. It seems much of consumerism and capitalism is to maximize our ‘happiness’.

But what is happiness? Is this even something to be desired?

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A thought —

The upside of monochrome photography is that it is more optimistic?

Or deeper:

To make optimistic photos in monochrome is more difficult and takes more skill/creative ingenuity than making optimistic color photos.

Let us consider — color is naturally more optimistic, bright and colorful than monochrome. To make dreary, moody, and depressive photos in monochrome is easy. To make optimistic photos in monochrome is a more unique approach.

And perhaps also with color … perhaps color photography that is hyper-saturated but more pessimistic is interesting?

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Personal studies on iPad and Procreate. The gist:

As I study Bauhaus design, I find images which compel me. If I’m compelled to sketch, trace, dissect and analyze these designs … I find them great and worthy of attention!

This is how I self-teach and self-learn design, visual arts and practically everything:

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Art means approach and technique. This is my personal take on black and white photography:

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Free motivation on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friends, wanted to shoot you some words of motivation and words of creative energy.

First of all, recognize that you’re not just a photographer, you’re a visual artist. This means that photography and the camera is only another means to making photos. This means that you’re not a photographer; you’re an artist.

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Artist vision as a photographer means you see more subtlety, beauty, and connections in everything you see, witness and experience.

As photographers our greatest attribute and advantage is our creative sight and vision. Thus to leverage this strength is the goal for us to see the world more beautifully and abstractly!

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Question:

*Why* exhibit your photos?

What is the functional purpose of exhibiting your work? What are the negative consequences of *not* sharing and exhibiting your photos?

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Not tomorrow, not yesterday or in the past; now is your decisive moment. Your decisive moment to innovate, wildly experiment, disregard self-preservation and see how far you can climb — ever upwards!

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Open source beats:

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As digital artists, we both deconstruct art works and re-construct them:

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What is a designer? Someone who designates (points out) importance.

If you’re an artist and creator, you’re also a designer. 

Let us consider how we all design things in our everyday lives from our homes, clothes, cars, devices, and things we make, collage, curate and create.

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What are we? Visual artists.

What tools do we employ? The best tools to suit the creative task at hand.

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A realization:

In life, the best life is mostly via negativa (Nassim Taleb) — less concerns, fewer possessions (but higher quality), less b.s., less anxiety, less noise (sound canceling headphones which are “via negativa” as the ultimate luxury.

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Simple idea:

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Painting, photography and art … all as a hybrid:

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Photographers are designers. We create a design… we designate beauty in our photos.

When we photograph, we design the frame— what elements go where.

Also, some of the best photographers have either formally or informally studied design, and applied their design principles to photography. Josef Koudelka, Laszlo, the Bauhaus school, Man Ray, etc.

Also note much of the Bauhaus designers were also passionate about photography, and the limits of visual experimentation.

Also the more I experiment and study design, the better my photography becomes:

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