{"id":165604,"date":"2019-08-22T08:43:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T15:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=165604"},"modified":"2019-08-22T08:44:36","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T15:44:36","slug":"the-eternal-return-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/22\/the-eternal-return-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eternal Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Long<\/em> Can You Enjoy Things?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something I’ve learned in life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many things we buy, possess, or experience is pure novelty. We might enjoy it once, or have fun with it for a day (or a few days), but after a week or two — we get bored with it, and we want to go ‘onto the next one’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The point of this essay is for me to reflect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we get bored of, and what don’t we get bored of?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Download PDF TEXT: The-Eternal-Return<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Tools which enable us to create<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One thing I don’t get bored of is my laptop (13” MacBook Pro Touchbar). Yet it isn’t something which ‘impresses’ me. The laptop certainly doesn’t bring me joy. It is just a tool. I only derive happiness when I’m doing creative work on it– whether I am writing (like I am right now in iA WRITER on my laptop), when I am using it to review my photos (Lightroom or Apple Photos), writing poetry, making beats in Garage Band etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus my first theory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We become indifferent to our tools, but good tools empower us to do creative work which actually does bring us meaningful joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Addictions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I will never get ‘bored’ of coffee, because I am addicted to it. Furthermore I see it as a benefit, because it is a great stimulant for me. After drinking (many) cups of coffee, I get into a zen-like zone of focus. When I get into my ZEN ZONE, it is probably the best feeling in the world. Absolute concentration. Loss of time. Out-of-body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So perhaps we don’t get bored of things which we are dependent on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Homes get boring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No matter how nice of a house or apartment\/condo\/space I’ve been in, I’ve always (sooner or later) got bored of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be frank, my ideal living quarters is a (small) hotel room. Why? Fewer distractions. All the upsides of living in a hotel: getting your bed made everyday, room cleaned, bathroom cleaned, new towels (no maintenance). Also hidden benefits: you end up buying less shit, because there is no place to store it. I would say I was happiest when living in a $35-a-night hotel in Saigon, with the fewest cares and maintenance in day-to-day living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, my happiness doesn’t consist of living in a fancy home, nor owning a home<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lifting weights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I never will get bored of lifting weights. Why? It is so fun to me! I find it thrilling, and a challenge to push my body to new frontiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never do workouts which I hate or which I find boring. I personally hate doing group-classes, because I feel like a prisoner (for an hour). I don’t do gym machines, because I find them boring. I don’t like to do many repetitions of any exercise, because I find it boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I generally love the ‘one rep max’ style of powerlifting, because it is like zen meditation to me. If you want to attempt a new PR [personal record] in a lift, you must focus 100% of your focus, energy, and muscle into a certain moment of pure concentration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And considering there isn’t an upper-limit to weights, lifting weights will never become boring or tiresome to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Writing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I will write forever, until I die. Why? There is a billion trillion things to write about. I can even theoretically write on the same subject everyday, and never get bored. Why? There will always be a subtly different spin I put on it. Even if I wanted to imitate myself, I couldn’t! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All black everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I really like black. Why? It never goes out of style, it is low-key, and simplifies our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is the funny thing, I don’t know if I like the color black itself– it is simply the least-offending color which exists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love all colors, but the thing with colors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sooner or later, you will get bored of a certain color.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For example let us say you have all-red sneakers. They look cool, but the look becomes kind of tiring after a while. If you have all-black shoes, they aren’t as “cool”, but you won’t really tire of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why my wardrobe is black merino wool t-shirt, black stretchy jeans (Uniqlo EZY jeans), black merino wool socks, and black Nike sneakers. Even if one day I buy a Lamborghini, I would probably prefer it to be all-black, because although lime-green is cool, you will probably get bored of the look after a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Classic literature and philosophy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another lesson from Nassim Taleb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You only really know how much you like a book, film, or something based on how many times you re-read and re-watch it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thus for myself it seems that my favorite films (based on how many times I re-watched it) include the original Matrix, the movie 300, and the first John Wick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For books, my favorites (based on how many times I’ve re-read them) include the Iliad, Will to Power by Nietzsche, Antifragile by Nassim Taleb, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Epistles of Seneca\/On the Shortness of Life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For music, my favorites (based on re-listens) include Kanye West (Yeezus and leaked Yandhi album) and JAY-Z (Black Album, Blueprint). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Travels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Based on traveling thus far, based on how many times we re-visited on our own free will for pure pleasure include Saigon, Kyoto, Mexico City, Marseille. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is another pro-tip about traveling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you find a place you actually really like, instead of trying to visit new places, re-visit old places you’ve already been to — and strive to get to understand it deeper!<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Also another new discovery — Cindy and I really enjoy cruises (Carnival as a great value).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The eternal return<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think this is where Nietzsche’s notion of the ‘eternal return’ appeals to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live your life as if you were to live the same day on repeat forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only engage in activities you can imagine yourself doing for a lifetime, without fatigue or disgust, forever. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For me this would include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Reading<\/li>
  2. Writing<\/li>
  3. Making music<\/li>
  4. Making photos<\/li>
  5. Discovering new ways to re-arrange and present my artwork<\/li>
  6. Teaching<\/li>
  7. Lifting weights<\/li>
  8. Listening to Kanye West<\/li>
  9. Driving a matte-black Lamborghini<\/li>
  10. Eating meat<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A radical way to live life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Only engage in activities you can imagine doing forever with delight. Never engage in activities which you would hate doing forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How Long Can You Enjoy Things? Something I’ve learned in life: Many things we buy, possess, or experience is pure novelty. We might enjoy it once, or have fun with it for a day \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/cruise-picks-51.jpg?fit=2000%2C1333&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165612,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165604\/revisions\/165612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}