{"id":198085,"date":"2019-12-20T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T18:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=198085"},"modified":"2019-12-20T10:24:43","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T18:24:43","slug":"the-gladiator-makes-his-plans-once-he-enters-the-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/20\/the-gladiator-makes-his-plans-once-he-enters-the-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In praise of NOT planning ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Maximal freedom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Who controls you. Your schedule, or you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"water<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure it out later<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My thought:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans naturally don’t “plan” things in advance. We work best when we improvise, “feel the vibes of a situation”, and “wing it”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Don’t have a consistent workout schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"sky<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Something I realized about working out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people have rigid days in terms of working out. This is a bad idea.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For example, let us say that Friday is “deadlift<\/a>” day. This isn’t a good plan. Why? What if the night before you slept poorly? Or you’re still augmenting\/recovering<\/a> your strength? Some weeks you might need 1 week of recovery, some weeks you might need 2 weeks of recovery, or sometimes you only need a few days. Or sometimes you might want to workout the same muscle group or exercise two days in a row!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go with the flow seems like a wiser decision. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Modernity is all about planning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"bank<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Taylorism<\/a><\/em>“: the philosophy of timing everything, and squeezing ‘efficiency’ or ‘productivity’ from our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion is that man is like a machine, and could be made more productive and efficient, in terms of a linear scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth: human and man is a biological being, a trillion bazillion times more complicated and complicated than even the most well-calibrated machine. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans require rest, recovery, and we cannot work 24\/7 like machines. Nor should<\/em> we. From an aesthetics<\/a> perspective, a man who tries to imitate a machine is repulsive.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’ve never planned anything in my life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ever since I was a kid, I always ‘went with the flow’, and as a consequence have succeeded in almost everything in my life. I have only failed when I try too hard to plan things in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taoism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taoism<\/a> has been one of the greatest philosophies I have integrated into my “real” everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t force it — (wu-wei<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Western and American notion tends to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to eliminate as much chaos, irregularity, and “scary” unforeseen things, in order to maximize our personal pleasure and fashion in life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\"acupuncture<\/figure>
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Taoism x Americanism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I still do love American entrepreneurial<\/a> notions of “taking control of your destiny”, and “with enough hard work and hustle<\/a> you can climb the social ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has worked for me. The American Dream<\/a> has pushed me to next levels. My mom was working-class poor, and now I am part of the ‘tech elite<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the ultimate hybrid of Americanism and Taoism is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strive and hustle as hard as you can (American), but know that everything won’t always go your way (Taoism).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Don’t plan your life.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t plan on being born. I didn’t plan on being born in America. I didn’t plan on studying Sociology, nor did I plan on pursuing photography and street photography full-time<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t plan to discover philosophy<\/a>, or any of the great masters of photography<\/a>. It all happened by chance. And once I came across these things by chance, I started to pursue it with great zeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marcus
Marcus Aurelius statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Plan less, act more!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philosophy<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dictate your meaning and purpose in your life with ZEN OF ERIC<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philosophical Essays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n