Is this what each man seeks?

Nietzsche mentions Plato, in which he said something like, “each man would desire to become the master of all men.” Nietzsche asserts that this ethos in spirit should be made anew.

Always prioritize text.

The loudest car? And the most expensive and flashy colored one? And the most unusual doors?

Still probably a brightly colored Lamborghini aventador or any car with the scissor doors.

Or still, the biggest flex is to just walk around downtown topless, no shirt on. Show off your demigod physique.

Why media is the future:

Medyos— with + me.

A simple thought; media is just sharing yourself with others. I like the idea of being a solo media entrepreneur, that is, you create a cult of yourself, and everything that you do create and publish is all by you, about you, through you. At the end of the day, it is all about you.

CULT(URE)

---

Why is everybody so fearful or reticent to talk about themselves, or to just do things themselves?

I have some theories; first and foremost, it seems that it is a moral ethical issue. Moralistically speaking, it is considered a sin or advice to talk about yourself. For example, the common word “selfish“, is akin to the word evil.

For example, if you tell other people to “stop being so selfish“, is that considered a good thing or a bad thing?

The cult of you

Let us consider the most dominant video platform out there, YouTube. Tube as in TV, you as in you. The basic idea and just of YouTube is that it is TV all about you.

Even twitch, was initially known as justin.tv, I believe it was just a live stream of this dude named Justin and all of his mundane life activities. Imagine the Truman show movie.

Why it is good for you to go solo

I don’t like the idea of gate keepers, or anybody holding you back from anything. I like the idea that we can do anything we want without having anybody stop us.

For example, I truly despise the notion of having an editor or a publisher get in your way. If I have a certain idea thought or something, I hate the idea of having anybody have to “approve” it, before publishing it. For me the ultimate freedom is being able to publish whatever I want, however I want, whenever I want. And also how frequently I want.

And this is the ultimate freedom of the Internet, websites and blogging, etc. No more gate keepers.

Yet, the pitfall that we fall into is that it seems that nowadays people don’t really care about freedom, they care more for popularity and “success”, money, fame recognition, followers and likes, etc.

All you need is 300

How many followers, subscribers, is enough? I said 300 is sufficient. Why? Imagine King Leonidas and his elite spartan 300s. That is all you need.

What kind of media should you create?

Anything and everything. For example, just go pro or document your every day Monday in life activities. Whether it be eating, working out, or just share your thoughts on anything.

It seems that in today’s world, more media is better than less media. Simply put, more is better.

Why? With digital media, it seems that people have a voracious appetite, and there is really no limit to how much media a person can consume. Let us consider the average modern-day man, who listens to podcasts, listens to music, watches movies, watches TV shows, watches TV series, etc. Let us also consider the apple AirPods phenomenon; the new frontier of sound, audio things.

Also let us consider the fact that traffic is getting worse and worse. This means, more and more people stuck in a car, wanting to listen to something to entertain them during their hateful commutes and time stuck in traffic. It seems safety wise, audio, podcasts are safer to listen to while driving then having to watch videos while driving.

Just do it all

So the question is, what kind of media should you create?

I said create it all. No limits to your creative expression. I see the best way to think about it is create things in a spirit of fun and experimentation, and just have fun with it. Don’t take it too seriously, don’t get too caught up with editing, etc. Create media that you would like to see.

For example, something that’s really interesting to me is trying to figure out the behind-the-scenes of peoples day to day behaviors and activities. I’m curious about how people eat, and what they eat. Thus, I started to do some GoPro videos of me eating meat, what I call my meat meditation.

Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any vlogs on people talking about more philosophical topics, ethics, etc. Thus I started to create more Vlogs of me talking about philosophy, stoicism, etc. as a means to create information and knowledge that I wish I had access to when starting off.

It’s not really a big deal

I am not quite sure why people take what they create so seriously. They strive to make it so nice by editing it so well, maybe it is a byproduct of our K-12 educational system, or even our college education. We strive to make things tiptop perfect, editing it to please some sort of third-party intelligent constipated reader, etc.

Hilariously enough, I make my living from blogging, vlogging, etc. Yet, I have extremely poor grammar, “writing style,” etc. Yet, out of all the people that I know, I am the most successful blogger and vlogger that I personally know. Also the one with the most money in the bank.

The origin of inspiration and motivation

I cannot speak for you, but I could speak for myself. What is the origin and the root of our inspiration and motivation?

For me, it is fun, adventure, play, etc. I am personally driven by curiosity, and I like to be able to delve deeper into ideas which are personally interesting and meaningful to me.

For example, whenever I blog about something that I am interested in, as I’m blogging and while I’m blogging, I gain deeper inside to the topic at hand. Blogging as a form to flesh out my own thoughts for myself, and the upside is I could also share those thoughts with others.

I see blogging as meta-thinking. Same for vlogging.

Therefore, blogging and vlogging is great because you’re killing two birds with one stone. It benefits yourself, and it also benefits others.

Criticism?

You know you’re successful once you have people start criticizing critiquing you etc. Consider it a good sign. For example, nobody ever publicly criticizes or critiques somebody who is boring. Boring people never get talked about.

Also, boring people are never hated on either. Thus, it seems that the root of success is to actually seek to become more hated.

Philosophically speaking, I think hate is just love in disguise, via Nassim Taleb Bed of Procrustes.

Anti-comments, anti-stats

I have never gotten a useful comment in my whole life, whether positive or negative. For example, certainly nobody likes getting negative comments, but also, the funny thing is that positive comments can actually hurt you more. Why? If somebody gives you a positive comment on some thing, it trains you to create more things that will get you more positive comments. Thus the road to mediocrity.

The most robust way to deal with things is either disable comments on your blog or website, disable comments on your YouTube channel, etc., or, if the platform doesn’t allow to disable comments, just don’t read them.

Also stats. Statistics are depressing, they are not motivating. Thus, disable stats on your own website, and also, refuse to look at them.

What is the point of media?

The bias in modern day society is that people just want to do things in order to make a lot of money. If that were really the case, better to be a plumber, they can easily make $200,000 a year. But do you want to be cleaning somebody’s poop for a living? Probably not.

For me, creating media is my passion and my soul project. It is what I am best at, which is effortless to me, and also fun and interesting. I never need to be motivated to create something, because I just create what I’m interested in. If you live a life full of inner motivation for yourself, isn’t this the best life?

A formula

Spend 90% of yourself blogging, writing things out in text, or just using iA Writer and markdown to voice dictate your thoughts. Why? Text has better longevity than video, is much more easily indexable, searchable, and accessible. Video is great, but video has many downsides. For example, Even with modern day algorithms, to decipher all of the words that occur in a video is still a difficult task, even for YouTube and Google text and sound recognition.

Also, lightness. A text file is a few kilobytes, whereas even the smallest video is hundreds of megabytes. Even in today’s modern world, Internet speeds, download speeds, upload speeds, and bandwidth is still a huge problem. Even the promise of 5G is weak; 5G is not real, it is fake 5G. You almost never get 5G anywhere, maybe the only place you get it is in South Korea. But in America, I feel like we are just restrained to either 3G or 4G.

1 billion blog posts, 1 billion photos, 1000,000,000 videos?

There are some things in life you can control, and some things you cannot. One thing you cannot control is how rich you will become. For example, even if I used all of my effort, heart and soul, to become a trillionaire, I may never attain it. However, focusing to create a lot, this is actually something which is attainable.

But isn’t quality more important than quantity?

I think the thought that “quality” is more important than quantity is a weak modern notion. Even in ancient Greece, I think Epicurus actually wrote at least 300 or 400 books in his lifetime. That is a lot.

My personal thought is there are academic and scholarly types who are unproductive, and they look at productive creators with petty resentment and envy. They wish that they could be productive, and prolific, and therefore, they have created that aphorism that quality is better than quantity. That they believe that their quality is superior than the other person’s quantity.

However, even in show business, there is the saying, “Your best film is the last one you’ve produced.” or, “You’re only good as your last book.” This means, you always want to be modern and recent. That, you always want to keep producing, creating, publishing.

For example, even Google search: they prioritize freshness. That is, they prioritize the information which was created most recently. There is a recency bias.

Now what?

Start your own solo media empire today.

Go solo.

Own your own platform. This means, you must pay for it. The rule of thumb is this; if it is free, you don’t own it.

If you use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc., you are partaking in digital sharecropping. You are an Instaslave.

Even, don’t put faith in YouTube. Sooner or later, your account will probably either be removed, banned, or inaccessible, etc. Even with my Facebook and Facebook Fan page, I have long forgotten the credentials for it, and I can no longer access it. Access denied.

Instead videopress.com — via the WordPress.com premium jetpack plugin plan. The simple thought is this:

Could you upload sexually explicit videos without having it flagged or removed?

This is the secret to platform freedom.

Web platform

Bluehost.com and WordPress.org — this is the key.

To create your own open source media empire, own your own digital domain, and also your own digital tools.

---

Make more media, consume less.

I like the idea that you could spend 99% of your effort, time and energy creating media, and only spending 1% of your time energy and force consuming media. Certainly we must have inspiration from somewhere else, however, we should limit it. Better to draw upon instead from your own life experiences, your own lived experiences, etc.

Now what?

1. Just write something, and post it to your blog.
2. Just record something, and upload it to YouTube.
3. Start your own podcast with anchor.fm — insanely easy.
4. Create your own platform. For example, Arsbeta.com as my brain child.

---

Make more, be more

MAKE WITH EK:

1. BOSTON
2. BERKELEY
3. HADONG South Korea

EK WORK

---

More thoughts

1. Entrepreneurship by KIM
2. Modern Photographer

More in EK SHOP

---

Sources of inspiration

1. Ancient Greek philosophy. The best philosophers to read are the ones who came before Socrates, the “pre-Socratic‘s.” This includes Heraclitus, Democritus, etc.
2. The Iliad
3. Nietzsche — The Will to Power as one of my favorite books.
4. Movies and cinema: the matrix, the movie 300, John Wick, fight club, etc.

Or anything on EK BLOG

---

Thrive on!

If this sparked even one interesting thought within yourself, forward it to a friend!

EK NEWS

All open everything. Open shop.

If you don’t pay for it, you don’t own it.

We love the recent, we disdain the old.

Squat rack push up the weight and hold — isn’t this “weight-lifting”?

EK TUBE

Crudus — raw meat. *krewh– raw blood. Blood outside the body — a wound. Or raw meat.

Krouo — to strike, to smite. Krura — bloody, raw, harsh.

Aggression.

In terms of ethics, is it unethical, or morally evil to be cruel? Also, philosophically, what does it mean to be cruel?

ETHICS by KIM

Your Own Personal Code of Ethics

1. Why Are We So Into Other People?
   Just focus on yourself and your own life
2. Perfect morals and ethics is following your own gut
   WHY ETIQUETTE?
3. NO BLAME, JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT.
4. Ignorance Takes Courage
5. TREAT OTHERS CARTE BLANCHE
6. Don’t give people what they want or what you *think* they want, give them what you think they *should* have.
7. Anti Small
8. Disdain or Admiration?
9. Beware Those With Good Intentions
10. STUBBORN x FLEXIBLE
11. ETHICS ARE VIA NEGATIVA
12. OBEDIENCE & DISCIPLINE
13. The Motive of Criticism
14. Ethics are Social
15. Anti Role Models
16. What is Greed?
17. On Having the Courage to Make Your Own Decisions
18. How *NOT* to Get Duped or Suckered
19. Why Help Others?
20. The Duty of the Strong
21. Why I’m So Intolerant Towards Intolerance
22. The Ethics of Criticizing Others
23. Consult Your Own Conscience
24. The Ethics of Shit Talking
25. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
26. I’m Easily Distracted
27. On Forming Your Own Opinion
28. ERIC KIM Philosophy of Tolerance
29. Tolerance
30. Aesthetics are Ethics
31. Morality and Ethics

Perhaps more creators should use the iPad Pro, as a good video capturing device, using the Ultra Wide mode, whether in selfie mode, the front facing camera, or the back facing camera.

The uber flex:

Why? ZEN OF ERIC FACEBOOK MESSENGER CHAT BOT.

How to go demigod:

“I know I’m not the most high but I’m on a close high.” — Kanye West YEEZUS Album

What would a demigod do?

Just think to yourself; if you were in fact a demigod, what would you do, what would you not do?

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

1. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
2. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
3. Imperfect Beauty
4. The Philosophy of Pleasure
5. What Interests You?
6. Anti Theory of Everything
7. Become?
8. STRONGER OR NOT?
9. Carte Blanche Ideals
10. CHOOSE JOY
11. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
12. On Becoming Less Human
13. COWARDICE.
14. The Philosophy of Futurism
15. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
16. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
17. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
18. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
19. RETRO IS BAD.
20. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
21. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
22. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
23. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
24. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
25. What Consumption Takes Skill?
26. OFF THE GRID.
27. REALITY IS CRUEL.
28. Pain is Information
29. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
30. AUTOTELIC.
31. UNPLUG.
32. How to Become a Philosopher
33. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
34. THE LUST FOR MORE.
35. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
36. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
37. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
38. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
39. Is Hope a Vice?
40. MOVE MEAN
41. Carte Blanche Ideals
42. One Interesting Thought
43. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
44. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
45. Children & Purpose
46. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
47. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
48. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
49. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
50. Differentiation vs Equalization
51. My Passion to *Become* Something More
52. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
53. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
54. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
55. How to Decide
56. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
57. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
58. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
59. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
60. Why or How Does it Matter?
61. The Philosophy of Time and Events
62. How *Not* to Resent
63. FORWARD LOOKING
64. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
65. The Miracle of Human Growth
66. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
67. Why Plan?
68. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
69. The Philosophy of Ego
70. True vs False Passions
71. How to Achieve Tranquility
72. On Making Your Own Philosophy
73. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
74. Think On!
75. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
76. Congruency
77. My Thoughts on Meditation
78. The Philosophy of Purpose
79. Emulate Yourself
80. Good Fear, Bad Fear
81. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
82. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
83. Why Culture is Your Enemy
84. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
85. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
86. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
87. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
88. What is the Purpose of X?
89. UTILITY.
90. Philosophy is a Luxury
91. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
92. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
93. Effectiveness Over Happiness
94. Self Actualization
95. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
96. Life & Pain
97. On Living Every Day with No Regret
98. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
99. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
100. Self-Determination
101. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
102. HOW TO LIVE MORE
103. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
104. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
105. Supreme Repose
106. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
107. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
108. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
109. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
110. What is the Best Life?
111. The Philosophy of Thinking
112. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
113. Conspiracies
114. Growth
115. Skepticism.
116. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
117. Seem or Be?
118. Learn Through Pain
119. Respect Yourself
120. In Praise of Elitism
121. Why Independent Thinking?
122. I Will Never Die
123. Bitter is Better
124. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
125. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
126. Good vs Not Good
127. Punished by Privilege
128. Abstinence Over Moderation
129. Just Leave Others Alone
130. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
131. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
132. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
133. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
134. Virtue is a Privilege
135. What Are Your Life Goals?
136. Honesty
137. Why I’m Anti Moderation
138. No Spite, No Malice.
139. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
140. Double Edged Sword
141. Ignorance.
142. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
143. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
144. Selfish Isn’t Evil
145. Wisdom is the Goal
146. YOU ARE KING.
147. MASTER YOURSELF
148. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
149. Care.
150. BITTERSWEET
151. ONE REP MAX
152. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
153. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
154. Insanity is Good.
155. Think Deep.
156. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
157. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
158. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
159. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
160. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
161. What is the Purpose of Life?
162. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
163. Elitism.
164. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
165. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
166. Happiness vs Freedom
167. The Birth of a Hater
168. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
169. Walking as an Existential Thing
170. Why I’m So Tolerant
171. Mortal Gods
172. THE HUMAN SPECIES
173. Why I’m So Skeptical
174. Just Follow the Money
175. Why Selfish?
176. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
177. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
178. What Actually Interests You?
179. How to Become Yourself
180. SELF HATE
181. Optimistic Fatalism
182. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
183. FLUX.
184. How to Think for Yourself
185. FLESH
186. How to Live the Best Life
187. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
188. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
189. Self Respect
190. Hypocrite vs Contradict
191. Ideals vs Reality
192. Spaceship Philosophy
193. What is Your Ideal Life?
194. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
195. Critique of Utilitarianism
196. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
197. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
198. Elite Asceticism
199. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
200. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
201. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
202. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
203. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
204. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
205. Self-Wisdom
206. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
207. INDIVIDUALISM
208. Why Live Forever?
209. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
210. Why Education?
211. How to Become Yourself
212. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
213. Why Am I So Cruel?
214. The Great Joy of Existence
215. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
216. NO DISDAIN.
217. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
218. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
219. BITTER IS BETTER.
220. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
221. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
222. PAIN.
223. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
224. Tomorrow is Never
225. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
226. EMBODIED REALITY
227. BLACK SWAN
228. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
229. What are you *really* afraid of?
230. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
231. Philosophy is King
232. Why is Selfish Evil?
233. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
234. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
235. NARCISSISM
236. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
237. WHY FREE WILL?
238. OBEY YOUR OPINION
239. EGO IS GOOD.
240. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
241. Seek the Good Pain
242. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
243. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
244. WHY I LIVE
245. Why I Hate Decline
246. Why I Eat
247. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
248. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
249. Never Stop Gaining
250. TRUST YOURSELF
251. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
252. What Do You Desire to Become?
253. What Do I Want from Technology?
254. Stratified Society
255. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
256. On the Brian, Body and Mind
257. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
258. Care over Fame
259. ACTIVE NIHILISM
260. Never Stop Subtracting
261. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
262. A Risker Life is a Better Life
263. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
264. How to Maximize Your Happiness
265. Influence
266. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
267. Meditations on Meaning in Life
268. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
269. Is Hope a Vice?
270. EGO
271. Why Be Unique?
272. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
273. You’re the Hero
274. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
275. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
276. The Joy of Uncertainty
277. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
278. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
279. Free or Unfree?
280. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
281. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
282. Why Think?
283. The Eternal Return
284. Only Do What is Best for You!
285. Truthiness
286. Why Be Happy?
287. Permissionless Living
288. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
289. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
290. Happiness
291. Beyond Freedom
292. Idolize People, Not Stuff
293. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
294. Why Hate?
295. The Secret of Happiness
296. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
297. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
298. Anti-Nihilism
299. First, Do What is Best for You.
300. Live Dynamic
301. How to Prosper
302. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
303. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
304. How to Become more Idealistic
305. Thrivival 101
306. Create Yourself
307. Non-Small
308. Inspiration
309. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
310. Human Augmentation
311. Prune
312. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
313. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
314. Modern Slavery
315. Kill the Leeches
316. Wisdom Augmentation
317. Why We Need Friction in Life
318. Straight Line Philosophy
319. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
320. Create Your Own Happiness Today
321. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
322. Try the Impossible
323. SELF-RESPECT
324. Anti-Social Extrovert
325. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
326. Human Flourishing
327. Simpler, Not Better.
328. How to be Free
329. Embrace the Extremes
330. Cultivate Your Own Culture
331. COURAGE.
332. Thrivival
333. Inner Power
334. How to Live a Purposeful Life
335. My Definition of Happiness
336. Why Change is Good
337. Why Work?
338. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
339. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
340. You Always Have Another Option!
341. INFINITISM
342. Never Stop!
343. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
344. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
345. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
346. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
347. Live Life to the Fullest!
348. In Praise of Selfishness
349. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
350. Why I Love Walking
351. Live Life Like a Video Game!
352. Simple Luxuries in Life
353. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
354. Only Prove it to Yourself
355. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
356. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
357. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
358. How to Find Inspiration in Life
359. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
360. An Active Life is a Happy Life
361. My Simple Joys in Life
362. Never Stop Striving
363. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
364. How to Be Optimistic in Life
365. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
366. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
367. PURPOSE.
368. How to Enjoy Life
369. Photography Therapy
370. How to Conquer Regret
371. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
372. How to Prosper
373. Memento Vivere
374. Destroy in Order to CREATE
375. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
376. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
377. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
378. The Purpose of Human Life
379. How to Overcome Impedence
380. Why I Love Death
381. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
382. How to Be Happy
383. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
384. Why I’m Happy
385. Why?
386. Why I’m So Prolific
387. How to Reduce LAG in Life

Masters of Philosophy Â»

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy Â»

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism Â»

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons Â»

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

How to become invincible:

What is stoicism? Reaping the upsides of life, and creating a framework in which anything which attempts to damage you actually benefits and strengthens you.

For example, let us assume that real life was an RPG or a video game, Diablo II analogy to real life. Imagine as if your character was a Paladin, and whenever an enemy attacked you, your hit points, and your skills would actually increase. This is my notion of stoicism.

Why stoicism?

To me, stoicism is the best philosophical framework to deal with the maladies of life. For myself personally, studying stoicism, and reading the letters of Seneca helped me tremendously become more confident, and epic.

However, we must know and acknowledge that stoicism is not the end goal. Stoicism is simply a path, a technique and a means toward something greater.

What is the end goal?

To me, life experimentation, human physiology, philosophy, entrepreneurship, innovation, art creativity photography, digital things, the Internet, etc.

For example, stoicism will greatly help you in street photography. Why? I believe the 99% of street photography is simply conquering fear and hesitation. If you could apply a stoic mindset to street photography, you will thrive.

Stoicism and entrepreneurship

Another application is towards entrepreneurship and innovation. I believe the 99% of entrepreneurship and innovation is conquering the fear of risk and failure. If we could stoic strategies to become more risk loving, we are wise.

What is the end goal of stoicism?

It seems that Seneca and the Stoic philosophers were obsessed with virtue for the sake of virtue. What is virtue? For men, it means to become the apex manliness.

However, this is where I feel that stoicism falls short. To seek virtue for the sake of virtue seems to be inconsequential. Once again, stoicism should be seen as a means toward a certain desired end, not the end itself.

So how do I become a stoic?

Simply put, if you’re interested in building your mind and body to become unconquerable, you are already a stoic. To borrow the words of Anna, you have always already been a stoic.

What should I do with my invincibility?

Imagine like having a bulletproof vest for your chest, and also your mind and your soul.

My simple thought is channel and harness your stoic power to go even harder on your publications on philosophy, whether it be email newsletter, blog, vlog, etc.

Anger?

I thought; better to be angry than sad. Why? Anger is an affirmative, stimulating emotion, whereas sadness is a depressive one. Even like Eminem said —

I hate to admit this, but I think I’m actually happier when I’m angrier.

If you get angry, or you’re angry, assuming you have high testosterone, low body fat percentage, and high muscle mass, anger is actually one of our most wise tools. Why? When we get angry, we perceive an injustice, which teaches us between right and wrong.

For example, I think it is actually very very wise to become aggressive and combative when necessary.

For example, in modern day life, we are taught that it is bad to be “defensive”. However, to be defensive, and to focus on defense might be one of the most intelligent strategies.

For example in football, American football, I think it is true that defense wins games. Or, when it comes to the US military, there is a reason why they call it the department of defense, not the department of offense. Even their website URL is Defense.gov.

Even the notion of “avenger”, comes from the notion of being a defender. To defend yourself, your family, your nation could be one of the greatest things one can do. For example, if we think about the spartan 300, their goal wasn’t to just go out and conquer every other nation. Their simple goal was to defend Sparta from king Xerxes and his Slave army. Sparta just wanted to be left alone.

Should you defend yourself?

It depends. For example, imagine like you were the dragon from the Lord of the rings, and there is this annoying poodle which keeps barking at you. In situations like that, maybe it is best to just ignore the poodle, or, you might not even hear it.

Therefore a simple stoic strategy:

Become more deaf to others.

For example, if somebody says something that super annoying, or triggers you, maybe the best strategy is just pretend like you didn’t hear it. And if they ask you whether you heard them, just lie and say you didn’t hear them. And just walk away.

What should I do if I’m just sad?

My thought is a lot of sadness is physiological. For example, let us assume that you sleep 8 to 12 hours a night, spend a lot of time outdoors in the direct sun, go to the gym every day, chat with your buddies, make new friends, lift heavy weights, hype yourself up, and eat lots of meat, How can one be sad?

Another thought: I have never met a depressed person who walks 30,000 steps a day.

Theory:

Depression as a physiological phenomenon which originates in the body, not the mind.

Mental depression is simply an offshoot of bodily physical depression.

Because let us consider, people who are clinically depressed literally cannot get out of bed. Therefore, this is a physiological phenomenon.

Stoic exercises

We all know that in order to become stronger, one must lift heavier weights, and exercise regularly. I say daily is best.

Some stoic exercises:

1. The next time you get really angry, whether it be your wife, your partner, etc., wait at least 24-48 hours before responding. I I learned this concept from Plato, who said that he would wait at least 24 hours before beating his slave.
2. What would a demigod do? This could be a good line of thinking when it comes to life situations.
3. The next time you get really really angry, just walk to the local gym, and proceed to lift very very heavy weights. Don’t go home until you’ve calm down.
4. Seek to empathize with other people, which means understand their mind and situation, and don’t hate or resent them for it. Give them the cold shoulder. However you’re not giving them the cold shoulder out of punishment, rather, just to protect your own zen stoic calm.
5. Whenever you hear bad news, or something bad happens to you think yourself, how can this benefit me 10 years from now? Is this misfortune, actually may be one of the most fortunate things which has happened to me in my life? For example, me getting laid off and made redundant from my first job out of college, actually was the stimulus which helped me pursue my passion full-time for a living.

Which stoic philosophers should I read?

I say: Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Epicurus, Diogenes the Cynic, Heraclitus, Democritus, etc.

Stoicism by KIM

Now what?

If you have any mental melodies, or things you want to discuss, have a chat with Zen of Eric Why App? Facebook messenger chat bot.

For anybody who criticizes Facebook, I still think that Facebook is a net positive for society, as it has allowed me to build this.

WHY APP?

---

Conquer it all

EK:

1. Conquer Boston
2. Conquer Innovation in Berkeley
3. Conquer Zen in Hadong South Korea

---

Stoic Equipment

1. Weight lifting chalk, both the powder form which comes in a ball, as well as the liquid chalk. Just buy whatever is cheap and convenient on Amazon.
2. License to Train Lululemon shorts // Metal Vent Lululemon T-shirt: Think of your clothing as armor. Also, this will allow you to lift weights and go heavy anytime anywhere.
3. Vibram 5 finger shoes — EL X model
4. No car
5. No home
6. iPhone SE: You don’t get afraid of it scratching, or someone stealing it. Use and abuse it.
7. iPad Pro (smaller one)
8. RICOH GR IIIX x ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II
9. HENRI SHOULDER STRAP
10. HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO

Moar in EK SHOP

---

Stoic sayings

1. “Perhaps one day we will look back at this misfortune event, and look at it with delight and laughter.” – Odysseus in the odyssey, after half his men got eaten by the Cyclops
2. “I am so grateful for all the wonderful conversations we’ve had in our life“. (Epicurus talking to one of his best friends, near the end of his life.)
3. “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” – Nietzsche

More philosophy >

---

“Ars longa, vita brevis.” – Seneca

ERIC

---

Share the thoughts!

Feeling strong? Feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK STOIC THOUGHTS

---

STOICISM 101

Become invincible:

1. How to Ignore
   Pretend like you didn’t hear them
2. Bad Stoic Strategies
3. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
4. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
5. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
6. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
7. STOIC STRATEGIES.
8. How to Become Fearless
9. Extreme Stoicism
10. Ethics are Aesthetic
11. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
12. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
13. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
14. True Difficulty
15. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
16. SUPER STOIC
17. Anti-Hedonism
18. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
19. ANTI FEAR
20. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
21. The Goal is to Become Stronger
22. HYPER STOICISM
23. HYPER HERO
24. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
25. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
26. The Art of Manly Virtue
27. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
28. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
29. Emotions are Good
30. Conquer Your Anger
31. BLACK EAGLE
32. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
33. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
34. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
35. How I Conquered Fear
36. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
37. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
38. The Upside of Poverty
39. How I Became Me
40. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
41. ATTACK REALITY
42. Living *THROUGH* History
43. How to Fear Less
44. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
45. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
46. Don’t Be Scared!
47. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
48. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
49. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
50. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
51. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
52. My Philosophy on Masculinity
53. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
54. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
55. Introduction to Stoicism
56. How to Become Stronger
57. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
58. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
59. How to Respect Yourself
60. How to Believe in Yourself
61. How to Steer Fear
62. How to Conquer Pessimism
63. How to Conquer Anxiety
64. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
65. How to Be Optimistic
66. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
67. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
68. POSITIVITY.
69. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
70. How to Give a Fuck Less
71. ALL IN.
72. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
73. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
74. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
75. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
76. HAPPINESS.
77. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
78. How to Be a HERO
79. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
80. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
81. How to Love Yourself
82. How to Turn Shit into Gold
83. Your Parents Fuck You Up
84. Immortality
85. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
86. How to Be Patient
87. How to Conquer Anger
88. How to Bounce Back in Life
89. How to Overcome Resistance
90. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
91. You Have No Limits
92. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
93. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
94. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
95. How to Forgive Others
96. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
97. Everything Will Be Alright
98. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
99. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
100. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
101. How to Stop Worrying in Life
102. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
103. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
104. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
105. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
106. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
107. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

How to go demigod:

(6 Plates + 35), Mixed Grip Chalk Zen Zone Mute

Zen zone:

EK TUBE

Growth. Inspiration and photo motivation. What is the key?

1. What does it mean to thrive?

The first simple thought is this; what does it mean to thrive as a photographer?

The interesting notion is that if you think about the etymology of the word thrive, it means to seize, prosper. Also from the Proto Indo European *terp-, which means to satisfy, enjoy.

To take, to grow was perhaps seen as the same thing.

For example, let us consider the Latin carpe diem, which literally means to seize the day.

In modern day society, one is not permitted to seize anything. Why? Notions of private property, etc.

But if you consider that you were the ancient Greeks, in order to gain and prosper, it was zero-sum; you had to seize from others. Other foreign people, their resources, women, men, slaves, labor, etc.

For example let us consider ancient war. War was waged in order to expand the empire of a certain nation, or to seize the resources and the human labor of another nation.

But taking it back to our own private notion, to thrive means to prosper to grow and to flourish. I like the notion of creative flourishing. And also, it is not zero-sum, which means, we can all thrive together. My thriving doesn’t mean your belittling. The same thing with the gym; because I am stronger than you doesn’t mean that you are weaker than me. Everyone could gain a seven plates squat hold.

2. Go off the grid

Social media is a trap and a prison. Digital sharecropping. Social media slavery

Delete your instagram.

Instagram is for slaves. I call it “Insta-losers”. Or “InstaSlaves”.

Delete your instagram — probably the 1000x most critical thing you can do to unchain yourself and become creatively free.

3. Blog

Blogging is the future for photographers. What is a blog? I Blog is just the website which gets updated frequently.

Consider, assuming you have a wordpress.org blog, there are an infinite amount of ways you can customize your website, blog, viewing experience, galleries, slide shows and other ways to share.

In fact, my thought is that blogging your photos is actually superior to printing your photos into a hardcover book.

Why? Unlimited free global distribution, immediacy, it is practically free. Jeff Bezos — Invent and Wander — he shared some very optimistic thoughts on the Washington post, in terms of digital distribution.

Even one thing I am grateful for is that when I started my YouTube channel in 2010, there was no notion of “good“ video editing. The only real portable video camera at the time was the original GoPro hero, no LCD screen, maybe 480p, maybe 720 P, I don’t even remember. Yet, the barrier to entry was so low, and there was zero intimidation. YouTube was just a free place you could host your videos, this was before they were advertisements.

4. What does it mean to thrive or flourish as a photographer?

Personally speaking, I think it means to have insane self-esteem in yourself and your photos, zero comparison with others, and interest in creating new images. In fact, nowadays, while I do have gratitude for my past photos, I am more interested in my current and potential future photos, than my past photos.

New photos are key.

Once again, if you are hungry and inspired and motivated to create new images, consider yourself blessed.

ERIC

Delete the gram:

How to build your self-esteem as a photographer. Video

Great Life

How to live a great life:

1. The most supreme mode of existence

Glorify yourself, glorify your body. First and foremost, build a body, and become a demigod. Throughout the physique of an ancient Greek hero, think Achilles. Or think about the Farnese Hercules. or think about David Michelangelo, and his posterior chain.

Do you want to become the David. Imagine a 3-D LiDAR scan of yourself and your own body, you want to become the most beautiful and sublime thing known to man.

Weightlifting is key. It really doesn’t matter how old or young you are, anyone and everyone could benefit from weight lifting. Whether women or men, whether younger or older, etc. I’ve been taking my mom to the gym every single day, and she is 67 years old, and I have been doing the one rep max type of lifting with her, squat hold and rack pulls. She’s becoming so much stronger in such a short period of time, only after about a week and a half.

2. Zen zone

I also personally believe that the greatest mode of existence is a Zen one. But not some sort of meek and weak Zen, but I’m more robust, strong, muscular type of zen. In fact, I best consider myself as some sort of modern day Zen monk, who happens to really like to lift weights, yell loud, hypelifting, new Spartan etc.

Rather than seeking to have a “better” life, seek to have a more zen one. The best way to live a more zen existence is to remove distractions, pettiness, drama, noise pollution, etc. In some ways, an existence in the southern California suburbs, assuming you live in a quiet neighborhood, with lots of natural light is a good one.

3. The zen of meat

A funny thought:

If you eat nothing but kale and quinoa, you need to supplement yourself with something else. But if you eat 100% carnivore diet, you don’t require any additional supplements.

There’s a certain Zen about being a carnivore, being a predator. Think of yourself as the wolf, not the sheep.

Or like our friend Galliani says —

It is better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore.

Choose to be gay, happy, but also, when need be, become aggressive and combative.

Costco business Center, beef ribs, top sirloin. Also when you have the chance, beef liver, bone marrow, etc.

Eat more cholesterol.

4. Photography and art

Photography is your art. Focus on it, and everything else will thrive.

ERIC

The real zen monk should have muscles.

What would king Leonidas do?

Building a new system of ethics

Confucianism is bad. Modern notions of male masculinity are bad.

What must we do? We must create a new notion of modern male masculinity, which is more robust, stronger, and more critical than any school of thought known to man.

The modern man as a sick animal

Inspiration is our life blood in photography, and all artistic matters. So the question is this; how do we become more artistic, or more inspired in our photography art and lives?

1. Extra small JPEG

I think the path to the greatest inspiration and motivation is becoming the most productive photographer. That means, to every single day shoot a shitload of photos. My personal ideal is to shoot at least 1000 photos a day.

A simple solution is to shoot with a recall GR 3X digital camera, and shoot extra high contrast black-and-white photos in extra small JPEG. I’ve been experimenting shooting just a small JPEG an extra small JPEG, and it looks like extra small JPEG photos import at least 10 times faster. This is good because we want insanely fast beers, even at the expense of quality resolution etc.

For example, if I had the option of having a Tesla car that could go from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds, or, if I had a Tesla with a range of 1000 miles but it took an hour, I will take the prior.

Once again —

1. Tesla Model 3: Has range of only 200 miles, but can recharge from 0% to 100% in 10 seconds.
2. Tesla Model S Plaid: Has a range of 1000 miles, but takes 1 hour to charge from 0%-100%.

I would prefer the Tesla model three with less range, but faster recharge times.

The same thing with smart phones; perhaps we don’t need that much battery, or battery life. What should just be improved is recharging times.

Therefore in the context of guitar if you, it seems wise to shoot extra small JPEG because it will offer you at least thousand X faster speeds in terms of importing time, loading time, uploading time, publishing time, etc.

The future of photography is smaller resolutions. Once again, 99% of people are just gonna look at your photos through an iPhone, how many pixels do you really need? I say 2000 pixels on the wide end is sufficient.

2. Just blog it

Assuming that you want to become the master of your own domain, you must own your own domain. This means on your own website domain, create a website a bluehost.com and install wordpress.org.

Would you rather be a billionaire and a slave, or to be poor and be a master? I would choose the second.

Assuming that we are the new Spartans, we do not want to become a servile slave to king Xerxes, even if he promises us all of the women, pleasures, and gold in the world. We would rather be the king Leonidas, eschewing luxury comfort and fame and power, and instead, putting our supreme joy in our own personal liberty.

3. Creative freedom

This morning I was thinking to myself, what is freedom? I don’t really have a good answer, but it seems that the most were the goal we could just focus on is their own creative freedom. That is, having the liberty to create whatever we want to create, and to publish and share whatever we want to share.

Do you want to become a digital master? Once again, just think yourself,

Can I upload nude photos?

If you cannot upload nude photos, show nipples or penises or balls or testicles etc., without getting it removed or getting your account flagged, or getting your account suspended, you are not free.

4. Just shoot a lot

The myth of the decisive moment is that when you see something happening, there is only one great photo that could be made. This is incorrect. The best way to think and approach it is that there is a continuum of interesting potential moments, and every moment is different, beautiful and valuable. Therefore, it is wise to “work the scene”, you discover the significance the composition and the subject matter as you’re shooting, while you’re shooting.

5. On becoming a happier photographer

I like to think it is your duty to be happy. In fact, I think the reason why a lot of people suffer in modern day life is that they think it’s their duty to be miserable. In fact, the happier we are, the better of a photographer you will become, and also more productive you will become.

In fact, I think there is the strange bias in photography that in order to be a legitimate and great photographer, you must photograph the pain, the suffering, the injustice in the world. It is like some sort of self flagellating virtuosity.

For example, the more I think about it, Magnum photographers are bad. Don’t be a swallower.

6. On living a more dynamic life

Dynamism and inspiration go hand-in-hand. For example, if you stay inside your house 24 hours a day, for weeks on end, will you find any inspiration to make art or photos? I doubt it. I believe there is a physiological condition linked to walking, outdoor air and fauna and allergens and wind and other micro particles in the air, and also sun UV radiation that stimulates our photography.

Just think to yourself, if you walked outdoors for 12 hours a day, and just photographed anything which tickled your fancy, with your Ricoh GR 3X digital camera in your front right pocket, wouldn’t you find inspiration and things to photograph?

7. Photo assignments

1. Photograph your hand. Shoot photos your hand in macro mode, and shoot it in high contrast black-and-white. Look for all the subtleties and nuances in your hands. Also as a fun assignment, put weightlifting chalk on your hands, and photograph it that way. You will see even more interesting details.
2. Take care camera to the gym, and shoot candid street photos of people at the gym.
3. Go to the mall. Yes, you can even shoot mall street photography! You could shoot photos of people at a indoors mall or an outdoors mall. For example, currently being in Southern California, I actually really like going to the Irvine spectrum and shooting photos there. Why? Go to where the fishes are. Shopping centers and shopping malls are great because there is a high density of people, and also, typically people are in a good mood when they’re shopping. Also, you can create some sort of social documentary critique photo project, in which you could photograph capitalism and consumerism in all of her grandeur.

8. So where should I share or upload my photos?

Your own blog. Then arsbeta.com if you want honest feedback on your photos.

9. Now what?

The fun thing about blogging is that blogging is a good way to motivate yourself. For example, I like this idea, write a blog post about these topics:

1. Reasons why I am sometimes unmotivated in photography
2. How I inspire myself in photography
3. When am I motivated in photography, when am I not?

Feel free to use any of these titles to make a blog post.

10. Travel

Traveling is good. Almost all of my great gains in life came from travel. For example, the first time I traveled internationally outside of South Korea was Beirut Lebanon, one of the most formative experiences of my life. Thank you to everyone out there, and especially Thomas Leuthard, Mohammed Badr, Loryne Atoui.

Also, my experiences traveling to Tokyo, and my time with Charlie Kirk and Bellamy Hunt. Also Mijonju and the whole gang.

Also all of my great times in Singapore. Shout out to all my friends at Leica Singapore, Gracia, and Adam and Callan and ABC and everyone like Kevin at IPA.

Any sort of travel is good. Why? It will put you outside of your comfort zone, and you’ll learn much. A list of places that I’ve traveled to, which have shaped and formed me:

London, Manchester, Dubai, San Francisco, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Stockholm, Umea, Hanoi, Saigon, Seoul, Paris, Marseille, etc.

I could go on and on and on on all the places I’ve been to. So this is not the interesting thing. What is most interesting is just living a maximally dynamic life. becoming more of an adventurer, more nomadic, etc.

11. Attempt more

How far can you fly as a photographer? Some ideas:

1. Can you shoot 1 billion photos before you die?
2. Can you thrive as a photographer without the aid of social media? To only use your own website and blog instead?

12. Photo assignment

Your photo assignment is macro. Shoot in high contrast black and white macro, of anything you see in the world. Your hand, your thumbprint, your fingerprint, droplets of water, fractal patterns in plants and natural things the patterns within meat, etc.

Upload your best photos to Arsbeta.com

---

Inspire yourself

EK INSPIRATION:

1. Conquer fear in Boston March 25th
2. Carte Blanche Innovation in Berkeley April 15th
3. June 19-23rd: ZEN ZONE IN HADONG SOUTH KOREA

HAPTIC HOLIDAY PROMOTION

HAPTIC PHOTO SUPPLY:

This holiday season up until January 31, 2023 (my birthday), if you order over 199 USD worth of HAPTIC PRODUCTS, get a free ERIC KIM WALLET!

Get HENRI SHOULDER STRAP or MARK IV

Go swimming in the HAPTIC SHOP

---

MORE STREET THOUGHTS

More ideas from STREET NOTES.

1. Go out, and ask a bunch of strangers to make a portrait of them. You must keep asking for permission until you get 10 people to reject you
2. Insane minimalism: when you go out and shoot, subtract subtract subtract. Aim for a minimum viable image
3. Strive to innovate within street photography by refusing to just shoot what is standard street photography. There is still so much innovation to be had.

More in MOBILE EDITION

You’re a learning machine!

Just book it.

Also start here.

---

Photo Futures

Arsbeta.com — The only place to get real feedback on your photos

---

What’s next?

RICOH GR IIIX.

JUST GOPRO IT.

Experimental ethics.

Beef Ribs Meat Meditation

More on EK BLOG

---

EK TURBO NEWS

Feeling turbo? Feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK NEWS

---

675 POUND SQUAT HOLD ERIC KIM SUPER SAIYAN ZEN ZONE HYPE MODE LIFTING

Just push and hold it:

EK

The zen of meat:

My insanely audacious goal is to shoot 1 billion photos before I die.

1. Extra small Jpeg
2. Maybe just shoot with your iPhone Pro?

How I became a digital nomad.