{"id":48500,"date":"2017-04-29T18:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T01:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=48500"},"modified":"2017-04-29T18:00:52","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T01:00:52","slug":"how-to-conquer-depression-with-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/29\/how-to-conquer-depression-with-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO CONQUER DEPRESSION WITH PHOTOGRAPHY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I want to write you some words of encouragement if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dealing with depression.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Don’t listen to me<\/h2>\n

First of all,<\/p>\n

I have no idea what you are going through \u00e2\u20ac\u201d nor am I going to pretend to know what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going through. But I know that depression is one of the shittiest things you can feel in life. The feeling of ennui, purposeless, and not having a reason to wake up in the morning. When I was in high school, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had a few suicidal thoughts\u00e2\u20ac\u201d if I ended my life, would others appreciate me more, or would they notice me?<\/p>\n

I suffered very mild depression in high school\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and had a few suicidal thoughts here and there, but in my mind, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anything serious. I was fortunate enough to have a loving community\u00e2\u20ac\u201d supportive friends, a phenomenal mother, purposeful community-service activities (working as a student intern at a Korean-American community center, being a Boy Scout troop leader), and being active in my local Korean-Catholic church (St. Andrew Kim in Oakland).<\/p>\n

Let’s do this together<\/h2>\n

I have no idea what the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for depression is \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but I certainly know ways that we can work together to conquer<\/em> and overcome our depression, and sense of purposeless in life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d using photography as our self-therapy device.<\/p>\n

1. Finding your life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose with photography<\/h2>\n

I think one of the biggest reasons we suffer from depression is because we feel like we have no purpose in life. No reason to wake up in the world.<\/p>\n

The world looks like a fucking shitty place, and there is nothing we can do to fix it. We feel helpless. We become disempowered.<\/p>\n

But I feel that we can use photography to find purpose in our life.<\/p>\n

For me, I have found my life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose through photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to use photography as a tool to empower others. I find great and deep purpose and meaning in life, when I encourage others to conquer their fears in life\u00e2\u20ac\u201d using street photography as a tool. I have an American friend who has conquered his PTSD (after being in the war) using street photography to help him feel comfortable around strangers, and to re-socialize.<\/p>\n

I have spent the last 10 years or so, fascinated with human behavior, psychology\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and the mind. But to me, all modern psychological notions are weak. I still think it goes back to philosophy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a lot of modern cognitive therapy is pretty much a more modern version of Stoicism<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d learning how to overcome any situation in life.<\/p>\n

2. Find a social purpose for your photography (then share it with others)<\/h2>\n

You can find your life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose through photography in many ways.<\/p>\n

First of all, find your social purpose. The talent or the gift you have\u00e2\u20ac\u201d that you can share with others. I feel the easiest way to conquer depression is to find something meaningful, useful, or helpful you can do to help others.<\/p>\n

For example, I have a friend who has a gift for writing. And she loves photography too. And she has learned to bridge the gap\u00e2\u20ac\u201d she loves to write about her photography, and photograph what she writes. Her photos and poems have the spirit soul embedded in them. Her photos and poems uplift my soul. Her photos and poems help me find beauty in everyday life (like street photography<\/a>) and help me overcome any pessimism I have in life. And by her sharing<\/em> her photos and writings\u00e2\u20ac\u201d she is able to help empower others.<\/p>\n

3. Help the disadvantaged and elderly<\/h2>\n

Another idea\u00e2\u20ac\u201d use photography as a tool to help out the disadvantaged or the elderly.<\/p>\n