{"id":33557,"date":"2017-05-14T12:19:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T19:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=33557"},"modified":"2017-02-03T03:16:17","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T11:16:17","slug":"dont-value-what-is-expensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/14\/dont-value-what-is-expensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Value What is Expensive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t value what is scarce and expensive; wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t life just be far easier?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Instead of valuing Leica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, what if we valued Ricoh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s?<\/p>\n

Instead of valuing BMW\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, what if we valued Honda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s?<\/p>\n

Instead of valuing iPhones, what if we valued lower-end Android phones?<\/p>\n

Instead of valuing designer clothes, what if we valued UNIQLO?<\/p>\n

What if you preferred what was cheaper, and easier to obtain?<\/h2>\n

This is the problem with a lot of philosophy: these philosophers tell us that we shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get suckered by luxury goods and expensive things, and prefer what is cheaper.<\/p>\n

But the thing we really need to question ourselves is this:<\/p>\n

\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are my real preferences?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example, do I prefer Android phones over iPhones because I am too poor to afford an iPhone, and therefore I trick myself into thinking I prefer an Android phone?<\/p>\n

Do I say that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need money to be happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m living poverty, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying that to feel better for myself? Or because I have actually tasted wealth, and prefer not<\/em> to have money?<\/p>\n

Do I say that Leica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153overrated\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, because I cannot afford one? Or because I have shot with one, and owned one, and I realized that it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as great as I thought it was?<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to me<\/h2>\n

A lot of the philosophy and thoughts I share on this blog are just from my personal experience.<\/p>\n

For example, I think Leica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are great cameras. But after<\/em> purchasing and owning one, I realize that they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as amazing as I once thought they were (in some sort of mystical, mythical way). Now for convenience, I actually prefer<\/em> shooting with a compact camera, like a Ricoh (even though I could afford and shoot with a Leica).<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve owned expensive clothes in the past, but honestly nowadays\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I just prefer<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbasic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 clothes at UNIQLO. I prefer<\/em> the more plain, standard look (instead of the distractions of having all these designer labels on my body).<\/p>\n

When I was a kid growing up, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve grown up not knowing if my mom could pay the rent or the bills at the end of the month. Money was always a source of stress for my family. We never had enough. But now that I finally do have money, I know that money is valuable to not<\/em> have stress and anxiety in life. Having money is important to pay rent, bills, and basic expenses. But having more<\/em> money than beyond what is necessary hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t brought \u00e2\u20ac\u0153additional\u00e2\u20ac\u009d happiness to my life. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad I came from having nothing to something \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to have realized this life lesson.<\/p>\n

So to sum up, you need to have your own life experiences before you really learn anything. Of course I try to share my personal life experiences, thinking that your preferences are the same. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not. You need to learn the truth for yourself. I just hope that I can help you be a general guide of sorts. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m only telling you what I wish I<\/em> knew in life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d based on my mistakes, hardships, and stresses.<\/p>\n

Make smart shortcuts in life<\/h2>\n

If you can learn from the mistakes of others, that is the best shortcut in life. You can learn to bypass wasted time, wasted effort, and wasted money.<\/p>\n

If we knew that having a lot of money wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the source of happiness, and we really took it to heart\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t waste 20+ years of our working life, trying to climb the corporate ladder, only to realize one day (when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the CEO) that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re more<\/em> miserable than when we were an entry-level employee.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t waste your time. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t waste your life. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t waste your attention, energy, and money. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t value what is scarce. Value what is simple and plain.<\/p>\n

It will be a lot cheaper, less stressful, and cause less anxiety in life.<\/p>\n

Value what is affordable, common, and plain.<\/p>\n

Then spend the rest of your effort on being extraordinary with your photographic talents, your creative skills, and your ideas.<\/p>\n

Always,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Read more: Philosophy ><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t value what is scarce and expensive; wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t life just be far easier?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33557","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\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-Only-in-America-9-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1338&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33557","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=33557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}