{"id":72170,"date":"2017-12-05T17:07:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T01:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=72170"},"modified":"2017-12-05T17:07:03","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T01:07:03","slug":"how-to-be-a-happier-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/05\/how-to-be-a-happier-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to be a Happier Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is true \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happiness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how can we achieve it?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Happiness ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pleasure<\/h2>\n
\"Laughing
Laughing lady artbooks by haptic press<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First of all, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happiness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is pleasure.<\/p>\n

There is something called the hedonic treadmill \u00e2\u20ac\u201d whenever we have a pleasurable experience, we get accustomed to it.<\/p>\n

For example, the pleasure you get when eating a really good dish for the first time diminishes the more you eat it. For example, if you go to your favorite restaurant and order the most expensive steak, it probably won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t taste as good the next time you visit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sydney, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Or, consider if you buy a fancy sports car for the first time (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say a BMW M3). The pleasure you get from it will be very high. Then you soon lose the initial sense of pleasure that you had when you first got it. Then you must upgrade to a Maserati, to get that hit of pleasure again, and so forth, with upgrading to a Bentley, then a Rolls Royce, then perhaps your own private jet, then your own private spaceship.<\/p>\n

Therefore, physiologically \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is impossible to always feel \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d assuming that happiness is mere pleasure.<\/p>\n

2. No heroin for me<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The pleasure we feel is chemicals like dopamine and serotonin hitting our brains.<\/p>\n

But\u00e2\u20ac\u201d shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t true happiness be more than mere chemicals hitting our cortex? Then if happiness were merely pleasure, would someone addicted to heroin be truly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? I think not.<\/p>\n

3. Creative flourishing<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Cindy making cutouts. Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I like the definition of happiness as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153human flourishing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (eudaimonia in Ancient Greek).<\/p>\n

In modern times, a better definition is probably \u00e2\u20ac\u0153creative flourishing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d which means, you are happy when you are creating new things, making new things, solving challenging problems, and making new art works or solutions or ideas.<\/p>\n

\"Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Kyoto artistic schedule, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, creative flourishing can include writing poetry, taking photos, drawing pictures, dancing with your body, making music, making witty conversation, doing stand up comedy, doing freestyle rapping, teaching, making film, or anything that exercises our creative muscles.<\/p>\n

But as a reminder \u00e2\u20ac\u201d creative flourishing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just having all these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153creative ideas\u00e2\u20ac\u009d swimming around in your head \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is actually producing stuff, making stuff, creating stuff.<\/p>\n

4. Have fun!<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
Cindy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cutout. Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I personally don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there is good or bad art. Just authentic or inauthentic art.<\/p>\n

For you, if you really want to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d make more art. Empower yourself by making art (not fancy art with a capital A, but everyday art). This is why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so inspired by Cindy what she is doing with HAPTICPRESS.COM<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d she is creating a platform to empower other artists, and she is being creative by curating (curation is also a form of art). Cindy is a visual historian, and it brings her great joy and happiness to bring together awesome artists, and share their awesome work.<\/p>\n

5. Make more photos and stuff<\/h2>\n
\"Spread
Spread from MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER<\/a> \/\/ yes to creative experiments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To be happier as a photographer, make more photos. Always carry your camera around your neck, or wrist, and shoot a lot. Give yourself permission to make photos of whatever. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take yourself too seriously. Be like a child. Experiment, and have fun.<\/p>\n

\n The most prolific artists have a lot of fun, like children.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not having fun during your artistic process, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to be happy, nor are you going to be productive.<\/p>\n

6. Make more art!<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Cindy. Prague, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So friend, keep making art. Keep exploring all forms of visual art, and find inspiration in anything, anywhere, and everywhere.<\/p>\n

Just make photos with your phone, or to respark your creativity, pick up a copy of FILM NOTES<\/a> and try shooting film. Try making film with iMovie, or just make a simple video slideshow. Learn how to make your own beats in GarageBand.<\/p>\n

\"PHOTOGRAPHER\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S
PHOTOGRAPHER\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HAND by ANNETTE KIM<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just make make make\u00e2\u20ac\u201d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry about your tools, just use what you already got.<\/p>\n

The more stuff you make, the happier you will be.<\/p>\n

HAVE FUN,
\nERIC<\/p>\n

\n

LIMITED EDITION HAPTIC ARTBOOK x ERIC KIM<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
MARSEILLE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inspire your Creative Spirit with HAPTIC ARTBOOK ><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

MAKE MORE ART WITH HAPTIC TOOLS ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HAPTIC<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

HAPTIC INDUSTRIES ON AMAZON ><\/a><\/h2>\n

\"Haptic<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is true \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happiness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how can we achieve it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71518,"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-72170","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\/11\/E5A7264E-44E9-450B-8F4B-955A490DB071.jpeg?fit=2000%2C1325&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72170","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=72170"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72175,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72170\/revisions\/72175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}