{"id":67997,"date":"2017-10-29T07:12:52","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T14:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=67997"},"modified":"2017-10-29T07:14:53","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T14:14:53","slug":"is-it-really-money-you-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/29\/is-it-really-money-you-want\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Really Money You Want?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mad
Mad men. NYC, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My theory: if you thought of life like an RPG (role playing game)<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u201d money is quite useless.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Gold is useless<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Kyoto, 2017 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You start an RPG, essentially naked with no money, no armor, no weapons, no nothing. You must go on an adventure to procure money, tools, resources, allies, items, potions, armor, weapons, and you must kill a lot of enemies and monsters to gain \u00e2\u20ac\u0153experience points\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153level up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d your character (strength, agility, dexterity, magic, etc).<\/p>\n

\"NYC,<\/p>\n

But the thing is\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really money you want in the game. No, money (gold) is only a good stepping stone in the game. At a certain point, when you have enough \u00e2\u20ac\u0153town portals\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, potions, and basic items and equipment \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you would prefer to spend your time to level up your character, challenge yourself with new quests, new bosses, and new adventures. And rather than obtaining gold or money, you would prefer to have more powerful and unique weapons, armor, and objects.<\/p>\n

\"Suits.
Suits. NYC, 2017. Pentax 645Z<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. We crave new adventures<\/h2>\n

\"Blue<\/p>\n

Now in real life, we are still dependent on money. We unfortunately cannot run around, kill monsters, and enemies to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153level up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and gain \u00e2\u20ac\u0153experience points\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Another problem: there is no way we can \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quantify\u00e2\u20ac\u009d our progress in real life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a good way to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keep score\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in terms of how well we are doing (or not doing).<\/p>\n

\"Grace
Grace building. NYC, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I think unfortunately, most people quantify their progress in real life with money. With job titles. With promotions. With how many \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unique items\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you have in your inventory\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but instead of having rare swords, armor, and tools, we have expensive luxury cars, luxury clothes, and antique art works.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But… I think in video games, what we really<\/em> want is to go on adventures and quests. We want to challenge ourselves. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want the weapons and armor for the sake of it\u00e2\u20ac\u201d no, we want those rare items (which aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just pretty, they have more powerful attributes) to kill more difficult bosses, and conquer more difficult missions.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

\n We only desire the tools in order to strengthen and protect us for more difficult challenges in life.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. What do you really desire?<\/h2>\n

\"Cup<\/p>\n

Think about it. Of course if you live in a sprawling suburb it is good to have a car. It is much more effective to move around, and go on adventures. If you live in a Los Angeles suburb, you are essentially a prisoner in your own home without a car.<\/p>\n

\"Street
Street portrait. Woman with chain necklace. NYC, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was 15 years old, I got my permit and then soon at 16, got my driver’s license. I drove a shitty car, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it was the freedom of movement<\/em> I was seeking, not the car itself. The car was only a means<\/em> to the movement.<\/p>\n

\"Korean
Korean War veteran. NYC, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Consider us today\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwe think it is the expensive luxury and powerful sports cars we desire \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but in actuality, we seek freedom. We seek more power, and for us men\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we seek to feel more masculine by driving a more powerful car, or owning a more expensive wrist watch. Or for us photographers, we seek more artistic power via more powerful and expensive cameras and tools.<\/p>\n

\"Looking
Looking up. NYC architecture, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But what do we all really<\/em> want and desire? More challenge. More risk. Higher rewards. More glory. More adventure. More epic quests. More fun. Less boredom. More movement. More freedom. Less time stuck in a cubicle and surfing the web \u00e2\u20ac\u201d more time exploring the world, seeking knowledge and wisdom, and self-empowerment.<\/p>\n

And for what?<\/p>\n

\"Cartier<\/p>\n

Ultimately for me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it was to empower myself, to discover what my true passions really were (obtaining knowledge, empowering myself, and empowering others) and also making art (art which empowers me, and art which encourages others to make their own art).<\/p>\n

4. What do you really need or desire money for?<\/h2>\n
\"Sunset.
Sunset. Fort Lee, New Jersey 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the answers for you. But I want you to really think, and ask yourself:<\/p>\n

\n For what reason do I really<\/em> want, desire, or crave money? Do I want money for security, for tools to empower myself, or to travel? Do I see money as the ultimate end, or just as a means<\/em> to the end?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

What kind of life do I really want to live? What tools do I really<\/em> need to achieve my monster goal, or monster of a life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s task?<\/p>\n

\"Suit<\/p>\n

Do I already have enough money and tools in my inventory to achieve my life goals? What if I already have too much<\/em> tools or money, which actually might be distracting me, and holding me back?<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

So friend, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your great life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s task, your magnum opus, you want to achieve in your short life? Share your passions and ideas in ERIC KIM FORUM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ceiling<\/p>\n

BE STRONG,
\nERIC<\/p>\n

ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My theory: if you thought of life like an RPG (role playing game)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d money is quite useless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66854,"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,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AE0F8A3E-E324-4FDA-B70A-E2B71EFB68BD.jpeg?fit=5376%2C4032&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997","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=67997"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68002,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67997\/revisions\/68002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}