{"id":21245,"date":"2014-10-25T11:27:06","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T18:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=21245"},"modified":"2014-10-25T11:27:06","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T18:27:06","slug":"letters-street-photographer-5-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/25\/letters-street-photographer-5-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Letters from a Street Photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d #5: How to Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Provincetown-The-Old-Colony-3\"
Provincetown, 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For this chapter I want to focus on a section which I think is important for everyone in life: learning how to be happy, fulfilled, and content with your street photography (and your personal life).<\/p>\n

Happiness is one of the most elusive things in the world\u00e2\u20ac\u201c which we have always chased for millennia. However the problem is that we often go down the rabbit hole and follow the wrong things. We try to chase money, fame, power, wealth, prestige\u00e2\u20ac\u201c all external forms of recognition to confer \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happiness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d unto ourselves.<\/p>\n

However happiness is more than that\u00e2\u20ac\u201c happiness is an inner-state, which can be controlled by you (not affected by external conditions).<\/p>\n

How do we seek to gain more happiness, purpose, and contentment in our photography and lives? Let us seek the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Meditations\u00e2\u20ac\u009d:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Live in the present moment<\/h2>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tossing aside everything else, hold fast to these few truths. We live only in the present, in this fleet-footed moment. The rest is lost and behind us, or ahead of us and may never be found.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – Marcus Aurelius<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I learned recently from a psychology study at TED is that the most dissatisfaction occurs when we let our minds wander. When our minds wander, we tend to think of negative things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and get pulled away from the present moment.<\/p>\n

Why the present moment? The past has already occurred, the future is uncertain (who knows when we will die). We are only 100% certain and confident of our thoughts, actions, and controls in the present moment.<\/p>\n

One of the things that often leads to dissatisfaction in our lives are desiring something. Desiring for more followers on social media. Desiring for a better camera. Desiring to travel to an exotic place. Hope and desire (while both are important aspects of being human which drive us forward) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c often lead to dissatisfaction of all the great things we have in the present moment. Marcus Aurelius also encourages us to stop fantasizing about the future\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and focus on the present moment:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stop fantasizing! Cut the strings of desire that keeps you dancing like a puppet. Draw a circle around the present moment. Recognize what is happening either to you or to someone else. Dissect everything into its casual and material elements. Ponder your final hour. Leave the wrong with the person who did it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Takeaway point:<\/h3>\n

I often find myself mind-wandering. I re-live regrets I have in the past\u00e2\u20ac\u201c in terms of my lost-opportunities, in terms of money wasted on cameras and gear, in terms of not traveling to more places (while I was abroad). I have a lot of baggage and regrets in the past.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the future\u00e2\u20ac\u201c I feel anxious. I feel that I am currently in a place in my life that I am not totally satisfied. I want to have more book deals, to have more packed workshops, and to build my online notoriety in the future. I am dissatisfied what I currently have in the present moment.<\/p>\n

However whenever these feelings of discontent creep into my life (whether it is regarding the past or the future)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c I count my blessings.<\/strong> I count all of my blessings in the present moment (the fact that I have my health, the fact that I already have a capable camera, that the place I currently live in is the most interesting place to photograph [because I know it really well], and the fact that to simply be alive is a joy in itself.<\/p>\n

I also look around my present environment and think to myself: what can I photograph which is around a 1-mile radius from my home, which will be interesting? I focus on the present moment\u00e2\u20ac\u201c what I can photograph now (rather than regretting not having taken more photos in the past, or worrying about photos I would like to take in foreign and exotic places).<\/p>\n

So whenever you find your mind wandering (and feel dissatisfaction creep in)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c focus again into the present moment, count your blessings, and go out and shoot.<\/p>\n

2. Be content with where you live<\/h2>\n

I think a huge sense of dissatisfaction in the lives of street photographers I know is that they want to live somewhere more sexy and exotic\u00e2\u20ac\u201c with more people, bustle, and life.<\/p>\n

I know most people live in the suburbs with their family\u00e2\u20ac\u201c away from the city. They daydream of being in San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, New York City\u00e2\u20ac\u201c or any big city that is bustling with people.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get me wrong, I love being in a sea of people and being swept away by the energy of the streets. It makes me lose a sense of myself, a sense of time\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I feel fully alive.<\/p>\n

But at the same time\u00e2\u20ac\u201c I have been able to re-create a similar experience back home in my boring Berkeley neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Last night I was feeling a bit cooped up and frustrated, and so I just took a nighttime walk around my neighborhood. I never do this\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but when I did, I suddenly saw so many interesting urban landscapes before my eyes. I experimented using a flash, using natural light, and got totally swept away photographing within a 1-mile radius from my home. I thought I had only gone out for a 10-minute walk, but I was away for nearly an hour. Time flew by\u00e2\u20ac\u201c as I realized how rich and interesting my own neighborhood was (although by \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcobjective standards\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 it is pretty boring).<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make excuses for your street photography. Just because you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live in City X doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make great street photography. Look at William Eggleston<\/a> who photographed his own city his entire life (pretty boring place) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and make great photos.<\/p>\n

So next time you feel uninspired with your photography (and think travel will be a solution to your problems) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c think again. Marcus Aurelius even notes this in the past\u00e2\u20ac\u201c that everyone dreams of the perfect vacation (away from home). But at the same time\u00e2\u20ac\u201c the best travel and vacation is in ourself, in our own mind, in our own neighborhood:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everyone dreams of the perfect vacation\u00e2\u20ac\u201c in the country, by the sea, or in the mountains. You too long to get away and find that idyllic spot, yet how foolish\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 when at any time you are capable of finding that perfect vacation in yourself. Nowhere is there a more idyllic spot, a vacation home more private and peaceful, than in one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own mind<\/strong>, especially when it is furnished in such a way that is the merest inward glance induces ease. Take this vacation as often as you like, and so charge your spirit.<\/strong> But do not prolong these meditative moments beyond what is necessary to send you back to your work free of anxiety and full of vigor and good cheer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Furthermore, know that regardless of wherever you live\u00e2\u20ac\u201c because of the Internet, we are all connected and wired. There are no shortages of opportunities in the city you live in. Who cares where you live? Just make the best of where you live.<\/p>\n

If you live in a boring city with no photography scene\u00e2\u20ac\u201c see that as a great opportunity. You can be the individual that starts the street photography community in your own neighborhood.<\/p>\n

If your photography community doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a bookstore\u00e2\u20ac\u201c perhaps you can cobble together some local photographers and make your own communal photography library\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and share and distribute books with one another.<\/p>\n

If your photography neighborhood is boring\u00e2\u20ac\u201c perhaps you can make it a challenge to make interesting photos (in your boring city). Look at the great boring photos taken by Martin Parr, Blake Andrews, and Lee Friedlander all simply in the suburbs.<\/p>\n

Remember at the end of the day\u00e2\u20ac\u201c you are a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153citizen of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and you are connected to street photographers from all around the globe (via the internet, social media, and our common passion for photographing in the streets):<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What remains of life is short. Live it as if on craggy mountain heights, for what does it matter where one lives? Whether in a city or in the wilderness, you are a citizen of the world. Let man behold in you a true man, one who lives in harmony with nature. If they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bear it, let them put you to death. Better to die than to live like them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Never forget\u00e2\u20ac\u201c the good life is where you currently are and live, nowhere else:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bear in mind that your hermitage goes wherever you go. The good life is the same here as it in the mountains or by the sea.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Takeaway point:<\/h3>\n

Whenever you feel an urge to travel\u00e2\u20ac\u201c I do recommend you to scratch that itch. If anything, traveling has helped me gain more<\/em> appreciation for my own home and neighborhood. After extensive traveling the last few years, I actually feel little to no need to travel (to find interesting subject matter to photograph in my own neighborhood).<\/p>\n

There isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really a street photography scene in Berkeley, California (that I am aware of)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c so I used that opportunity to arrange some meet-ups. If your neighborhood is lacking the same sort of community, be the change in which you wish to see in the world (Gandhi).<\/p>\n

If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the funds, time, or opportunity to travel\u00e2\u20ac\u201c don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t despair. Photography books are a great way to travel to anywhere you want in the world\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and gain inspiration.<\/p>\n

You can also explore parts of your own city or neighborhood that are off the beaten path. Photograph areas that you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen anyone photograph (however boring)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and see if you can make it interesting.<\/p>\n

Constraints help breed creativity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best photographs are in your own backyard\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and they will be the best photos (because you know it best, and not as many people have photographed it).<\/p>\n

3. Be content; be grateful for what you have<\/h2>\n

As I said earlier on\u00e2\u20ac\u201c being content (and grateful) is one of the best antidotes to dissatisfaction, misery, and depression.<\/p>\n

I have made it a daily practice to say \u00e2\u20ac\u01533 things I am grateful for\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to Cindy at the end of everyday. No matter how objectively \u00e2\u20ac\u0153great\u00e2\u20ac\u009d my life is\u00e2\u20ac\u201c without acknowledging that and sharing my gratefulness (out loud) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appreciate things.<\/p>\n

I think one of the great things in street photography is to simply recognize how beautiful everyday life is. I think this is one of the main reasons, which draws us to street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u201c appreciation of the small things. Marcus Aurelius says one of the great ways we can find beauty in the world is to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153take a particular pleasure in everything\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c however how small and grand:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The perceptive man, profoundly curious about the workings of nature, will take a peculiar pleasure in everything<\/strong>, even in the humble or ungainly parts that contribute to the making of the whole. The actual jaws of living beasts will delight him as much as their representations by artists and sculptors. With a discerning eye, he will warm to an old man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strength or an old woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beauty while admiring with cool detachment the seductive charms of youth. The world is full of wonders like these that will appeal only to those who study nature closely and develop a real affinity for her works<\/strong>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So sometimes when I am shooting in the streets, I might be too slow to capture a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153decisive moment\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or to make an interesting photograph. But I am still grateful for seeing a scene (an old man in love with an old woman)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c or simply a beautiful scene. Sure making a photograph of a great scene is truly wonderful\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but also having appreciation for the beauty of what we see is highly important as well.<\/p>\n

I think our interest in street photography is a special gift. Not everyone I know or meet is interested in street photography. It takes a unique individual to be interested in street photography. This individual must be loving towards humans, curious about human behavior, and have an appreciation of the small and mundane things of everyday life.<\/p>\n

So first of all, before you are grateful for your camera, health, or where you live\u00e2\u20ac\u201c just cherish this gift of seeing the world in a peculiar and sensitive manner (as a street photographer)<\/strong>. Constantly count that first blessing. Marcus Aurelius reminds us to cherish our gifts:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cherish your gifts, however humble, and take pleasure in them. Spend the rest of your days looking only to the gods from whom comes every good gift and seeing no man as either master or slave.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Furthermore a lot of discontentment in life happens when we forget to appreciate what we have\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and we lust after things we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have. This lusting can be for that new camera, that new lens, or that trip overseas. So whenever you feel a lust or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hankering\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for what we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Marcus Aurelius reminds us to fix our attentions on what we do have, and to be grateful for it. And on top of that, remind ourselves how sad we would be if we lost them:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hanker after what you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have.<\/strong> Instead, fix your attentions on the finest and the best that you have, and imagine how much you would long for these if they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in your possession<\/strong>. At the same time, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become so attached to these things that you would be distraught if you were to lose them.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have had a personal account in which I thought I lost my camera\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I had a small heart attack. I realized that up until that point\u00e2\u20ac\u201c I took my camera for granted. But imagining it gone gave me a lot of pain\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and regret. Soon I recovered the camera, and I was so euphoric and happy\u00e2\u20ac\u201c like I was given a second chance. I never took my camera granted for that afterwards.<\/p>\n

However Marcus Aurelius also reminds us: don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be too attached to our material things<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because if we lose them, it will lead to further dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n

So the strategy is: be grateful for what we have (especially when we want new things), but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become so attached that we will be sad if we lost them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The great thing about the power of contentment is that no matter how shitty your life is\u00e2\u20ac\u201c you can always find something to be content with.<\/p>\n

In Victor Frankl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s search for meaning\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when he was incarcerated in a holocaust death camp\u00e2\u20ac\u201c even waking to see the morning the next day was a blessing, to see the blue sky, and to see starving people help one another.<\/p>\n

So remember\u00e2\u20ac\u201c no matter how shitty your camera, where you live\u00e2\u20ac\u201c there is always something to be grateful for. Be grateful for your vision, the fact you are born with a passion to make images, and to live in a generation where you can see billions of inspirational images on the internet for free. Marcus Aurelius reminds us\u00e2\u20ac\u201c it is always in our power to be content:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is within your power, always and everywhere, to be content with what the gods have given you<\/strong>, to deal justly with people as you find them, and to guard your thoughts against the intrusion of untested or unchaste ideas.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Marcus Aurelius sums up all the lessons he has taught us on being grateful, content, and living in the moment. He himself struggled with this in his life\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it is hard. But it is possible:<\/p>\n

“Is it possible that one day I shall see you, O my soul, good, simple, indivisible, stripped of every pretense, more solid than the flesh that now covers you? Will you ever know a day of unclouded love and tenderness? Will you ever be content\u00e2\u20ac\u201c no hopes, no regrets, needing nothing, desiring nothing<\/strong>, animate or inanimate, not even for a moment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pleasure\u00e2\u20ac\u201c nor wanting a little more time to prolong the ecstasy, or a more pleasing room or view or climate, or a more sweet accord in your relations with others? When will you be content with your present condition, happy with all you have, accepting it as a gift from the gods and acknowledging that all is well with you and that all is well?”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Takeaway point:<\/h3>\n

No matter what\u00e2\u20ac\u201c we can always be grateful. As a strategy to gain more happiness in life\u00e2\u20ac\u201c keep a gratitude journal. At the end of everyday, write down 3 (or more) things you are grateful for. I personally try to write down as many things I am grateful for as possible. The more things I write down that I am grateful for, the more things I discover I should be grateful for (however small).<\/p>\n

4. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t complain, blame, criticize, or make excuses<\/h2>\n

Negativity begets more negativity. Having a positive outlook in life is one of our most powerful weapons and defenses against the bullshit of everyday life\u00e2\u20ac\u201c the bad shit that happens, the negative people we meet, and the feelings of discontentment and depression that sink in.<\/p>\n

So how can you create a shining, solid, impenetrable gold plate of armor of happiness? Simple: don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t complain, blame, criticize, or make excuses (about anybody or anything in your life)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

a) Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t complain<\/h3>\n

First of all, complaining doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do us any good. Bitching and moaning doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the physical reality of what is happening (or what has happened to us). And psychological studies show that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153venting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t good for us. It is bad for us. Venting negative thoughts , anger, and frustration only makes us more negative, angry, and frustrated.<\/p>\n

Rather, learn to let go\u00e2\u20ac\u201c try to go 30 days without complaining at all. You will be amazed how much this will change your life in a positive way.<\/p>\n

For what do we have to complain about?<\/p>\n

We seriously live in the best time, in the existence of history. There is less poverty, deaths by starvation, and racism than ever before. With the Internet\u00e2\u20ac\u201c our possibilities are limitless. We have more access to food than a king did even a few centuries ago. We have devices the size of a bar of soap that we can stick into our pockets, which can tap into the collective of human knowledge (all for free).<\/p>\n

So Marcus Aurelius reminds us\u00e2\u20ac\u201c we should never complain about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153palace life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The way I interpret \u00e2\u20ac\u0153palace life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d nowadays is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153modern life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially with all of our amazing technology:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No one should ever hear you complaining about palace life, no one, not even your own ears.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are a lot of things we might complain and bitch about. We might complain that our camera is too slow, that it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough megapixels, that the High-ISO performance is poor, that our lenses are \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsoft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Whatever.<\/p>\n

We might complain that people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support our photography, that there is too much \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 photography online, and that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dceveryone thinks they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a street photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

But throw away all these negative thoughts and criticisms.<\/p>\n

If we encounter anything we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like in life\u00e2\u20ac\u201c simply ignore it, throw it away, or walk around. Marcus Aurelius has a great analogy:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe cucumber is bitter.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Throw it away. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a briar in my path.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Walk around it. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel compelled to add, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWhy are these things allowed to happen?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 The naturalist will only have a good laugh at your expense, as would the carpenter or shoemaker if you complained about sawdust or leather trimmings in their workshops.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Know that regardless of how well we try to live life\u00e2\u20ac\u201c we will deal with shit we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like. But Marcus Aurelius brings up a good analogy: if you are a wood carpenter and you complain about sawdust when you are making shelves or desks\u00e2\u20ac\u201c you are a fool. Similar in life, how can we expect to live life without some unpleasant things? It is a simple by-product of living.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, another good way to not complain is to imagine how ridiculous and foolish you look when you are complaining. You are like a pig squealing and kicking around:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The next time you hear someone bemoaning his fate or complaining about something, visualize the pig at a sacrifice, squealing and kicking<\/strong>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same with the person who lies upon his lonely bed, lamenting his pains or cursing his constraints in silence. Only the rational being can embrace his fate and follow the course of events willingly; those who howl and whine can merely follow.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lastly\u00e2\u20ac\u201c don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame anybody for what happens in life. Life is just life. Shit happens to everybody. Fate can sometimes be kinder to others at certain instances\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but we are all suffering collectively. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame humans. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame anybody\u00e2\u20ac\u201c as Marcus Aurelius reminds us:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame the gods for what happens, for they never do wrong either voluntarily or involuntarily. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame men either, whose wrongs are all involuntary. Be done with blame.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

b) Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t criticize<\/h3>\n

Another way to gain more happiness in life is to not criticize. Because the more you criticize others (in a negative way)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c the more negative energy you bring onto yourself.<\/p>\n

I think it is good to give constructive criticism (which can help others)\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but giving simply negative criticism (which doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anybody good) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is just bad karma.<\/p>\n

Always seek to be kind, helpful, and to add value to those you give feedback\/comments on. If someone asks you to give you feedback on their photos, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just say that their work is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d If you actually do feel that way\u00e2\u20ac\u201c perhaps tell them why<\/em> you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like their photos (so they can improve).<\/p>\n

Marcus Aurelius tells us that if we want to correct or criticize people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c do it with tact:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If someone makes a mistake, correct him with kindness and point out where he went wrong.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0If you fail, blame only yourself, or better yet, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame anyone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also mentioned that let us not self-criticize ourselves too much (especially if it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t constructive). If we fail, nobody else is to blame\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but ourselves.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, before we criticize others \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let us ask ourselves\u00e2\u20ac\u201c do I do the same actions of those I am about to criticize?<\/p>\n

For example, when I get cut off in traffic and I want to yell \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fuck you\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the other guy (road rage) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I remind myself: I have cut a lot of people off in traffic as well (unintentionally). Therefore, I remind myself that I have been an asshole in the past\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and not to criticize others.<\/p>\n

So before you point a finger at someone, remind yourself: am I guilty of the same thing I am about to criticize the person for?<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: \u00e2\u20ac\u2122What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?<\/strong> Is it love of money? or pleasure? or reputation? and so on until you have identified the closest cousin. By redirecting your attention in this way, you will soon forget your anger as you realize that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help himself any more than you can. How can he possibly overcome the compulsion to do wrong? If you can help him with this, you have helped yourself as well.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also another good way to think about things before you criticize a photographer: ask yourself, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why did this photographer take this photograph? What did this photographer find interesting about this scene\u00e2\u20ac\u201c that I cannot see?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d By understanding the motives of another photographer is a strong way to empathize and understand him\/her:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In everything you see someone else do, make it a habit to ask yourself, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWhat is his purpose in doing this?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong> But begin with yourself. Question your own actions first.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

c) Make no excuses<\/h3>\n

We often make excuses for our photography (at least I know I do). I make excuses that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough time, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough money (to travel or buy a certain camera for a project I want), or that the opportunity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t good.<\/p>\n

There is never a perfect time, a perfect camera, or an unlimited cash-chest of funds. The perfect time is now, with the gear you already have, and the money you already have\u00e2\u20ac\u201c to creatively thrive, create the street photography you want, and to live the life you want.<\/p>\n

So remember\u00e2\u20ac\u201c nobody is preventing you from doing anything. You have no obstacles\u00e2\u20ac\u201c but yourself. Marcus Aurelius reminds us that opportunity exists everywhere:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is the very best you can say or do with the material you have to work with? Whatever that is, you can say or do it. Make no excuse by claiming that something prevents you<\/strong>. You will never stop bemoaning your fate until it becomes as natural for you to follow the law of your being\u00e2\u20ac\u201c in whatever material conditions you find yourself\u00e2\u20ac\u201c as it is for a hedonist to go after pleasure. Indeed, every opportunity to speak or act according to the law of your being should give you pleasure, and that opportunity exists everywhere.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5. Focus on what we can control<\/h2>\n

Okay so we shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame, criticize, complain, think about the past, or worry about the future\u00e2\u20ac\u201c what can we control?<\/p>\n

We can always control our perception<\/em> of what happened. So for example, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say you missed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the decisive moment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d You can interpret this two ways:<\/p>\n