{"id":44068,"date":"2017-03-20T00:12:36","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T07:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=44068"},"modified":"2017-03-20T00:12:36","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T07:12:36","slug":"immortality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/20\/immortality\/","title":{"rendered":"Immortality"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"cindy
Cindy trying on her wedding dress for the first time. Garden Grove, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Would you want to be immortal?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I think not.<\/p>\n

1. Death makes life sweet<\/h2>\n
\"Me
Me and Cindy doing a selfie in our apartment in Berkeley, before heading out. 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Death is what makes life sweet.<\/p>\n

If we never got hungry; would we savor the taste of food?<\/p>\n

If we never felt pain; could we feel pleasure?<\/p>\n

If we never felt sorrow; could we feel joy?<\/p>\n

If death didn’t exist; could we appreciate life?<\/p>\n

2. Death is the ultimate equalizer<\/h2>\n
\"eric
Me and Cindy in Aix En Provence, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are all equal at birth, and at death.<\/p>\n

Some of us might be born with a purple blanket. Others of us are born with dirty, brown blankets.<\/p>\n

Yet, when we all die, we are all put in the same casket. Some of our caskets might be made of gold. Others; we might just have a wooden casket. Yet no matter the material of the casket; death is the same to all mortals.<\/p>\n

3. We enjoy fleeting pleasures<\/h2>\n
\"eric
Buying groceries with Cindy. Berkeley, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If there were no ‘decisive moments’ in photography, and life went on in an endless loop — photography would be no fun.<\/p>\n

4. Immortality in video games<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I remember when I was a kid, I was addicted to the gun-shooting game ‘Time Crisis.’ 3 lives cost $1 dollar. That was a lot of money for me as a kid.<\/p>\n

I remember, I would not<\/em> eat lunch, so I could save up money to play the game at the arcade.<\/p>\n

It was a thrill. The chance of dying is what gave me zeal and fun in the game. I worked hard to avoid the bullets, and to avoid dying.<\/p>\n

5. There is no ‘insert coin to continue’ in life<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I remember for my birthday, I was able to play unlimited at the arcade. The machines were set, so we could have infinite lives.<\/p>\n

I played Time Crisis– thinking it would be fun.<\/p>\n

But alas, it was boring.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

I didn’t have to work hard to prevent dying. I knew if I just died, I could press ‘Continue’ without any consequences. No more frantically trying to pull out 4 quarters from my pocket.<\/p>\n

I think life is the same. If life were forever, we would get bored of it. Why work hard? We will live forever anyways.<\/p>\n

6. What gets me up in the morning?<\/h2>\n
\"eric
At my friend Yves house with Cindy and my mom \/\/ lovely dinner. Marseille, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what is the point of life?<\/p>\n

I think to know that life is limited, is to savor it.<\/p>\n

I think about death a lot. Daily, in-fact. Even as I am writing these words, I have ‘Memento Mori’ (remember that you must die in Latin) as my laptop wallpaper.<\/p>\n

This makes me not<\/em> waste my life. To not waste a precious moment.<\/p>\n

I feel the purpose of my life is to help empower others. To help others fulfill their creative souls. To help others find possibility, when they feel like they are trapped. I know when I was working a 9-5 job; I felt like a cubicle slave. Nothing is worse than slavery.<\/p>\n

I have found (some) remedies which have helped (partially) for myself. And like a good doctor, I want to share some of these remedies with my friends and patients.<\/p>\n

7. Infinite time = boredom<\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

I feel if we were immortal, we would just be bored all the time. Kind of how bored I was, just playing video games, during summer vacations. Having some busyness and a schedule in life was actually quite nice. Because I had all this time I had to ‘waste’ in class, I savored my freedom after<\/em> school was done. But with unlimited time on my hands, video games were no fun.<\/p>\n

I also think that boredom is worse than death.<\/p>\n

8. You don’t want no magic pill<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I know for powerlifting, the fun is to see your maximum strength go up. And it is fun because it is hard. If I could just take a miracle pill and suddenly deadlift 600 pounds, I would have no interest.<\/p>\n

If photography were easy and not challenging, I would not dare hit the shutter.<\/p>\n

9. Difficulty is what wakes up the genius inside<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Difficulty is what makes life worth it.<\/p>\n

And a limited life is what makes life worth it.<\/p>\n

10. I love you Cindy.<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo by Brandon Phan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In-fact, I think death is the best thing that has ever been invented.<\/p>\n

Without death, the earth would become over-populated and we would all live horrible lives.<\/p>\n

Without death, we would not appreciate the beautiful colors of the autumn — falling leaves.<\/p>\n

Without death, I would never cherish my time with my loved ones. In-fact, each night, I kiss Cindy good night like we will (both) not wake up the next morning.<\/p>\n

11. Use death in a positive way<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Use death in a positive way. The grim reaper is your life-coach. The grim reaper is sitting behind you, watching you, and asking you:<\/p>\n

\n “I’m going to take you to Hades one way. Maybe today, tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, or 50 years from now. But you don’t know. So don’t waste your life. Don’t waste today.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So if today were your last day on earth, what would you do, and what would you not<\/em> do?<\/p>\n

Be strong,
\nEric<\/p>\n

\"Cindy
Cindy trying on a new dress. Paris, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Stoicism ><\/a><\/h2>\n

\"eric<\/p>\n

Become invincible against fate:<\/p>\n