{"id":80167,"date":"2018-03-21T22:55:05","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T05:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=80167"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:55:05","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T05:55:05","slug":"dissatisfaction-drive-you-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/21\/dissatisfaction-drive-you-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Dissatisfaction Drive You Forward!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bad\u00e2\u20ac\u009d emotions. To become the fullest developed human, we must feel the furthest extents of our human emotions. What matters to succeed and thrive in life: harness all of your emotions, desires, and dissatisfactions in a positive way\u00e2\u20ac\u201d to propel you forward, and to the highest summits of life!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD PDF: Let dissatisfaction drive you forward<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dissatisfaction as a source of innovation<\/h2>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

We often think that dissatisfaction is a bad thing that we must \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cure\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The point of Buddhism and zen<\/a> is to eradicate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cravings\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and desires.<\/p>\n

However to me, I think that having dissatisfaction is good for us. If we were satisfied with the horse and carriage, we would have never invented cars, or spaceships. If we were satisfied with letter writing and snail mail, we would never have invented the Internet.<\/p>\n

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Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t complain; figure out solutions!<\/h2>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

With the dissatisfactions we experience in life, we can either sit on our butts, complain, mope, and do nothing about it.<\/p>\n

Or, we can do something much more positive: seek to find solutions to our dissatisfactions in life, in order to improve our lives, and the lives of others (who experience the same dissatisfactions as we do).<\/p>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

For example when I started street photography<\/a>, I was dissatisfied that there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much information online how<\/em> to shoot street photography. Rather than simply complaining about it, I decided to be the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153change which I wished to see in the world\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (inspired by Gandhi<\/a>). I started this blog, and started to share my experimentations, learnings, and lessons in shooting street photography.<\/p>\n

\"Cindy<\/p>\n

I also think when it comes to philosophy and science, it is our hunger for truth, knowledge, and wisdom which drives us. It is our dissatisfaction with our lack of knowledge which drives us.<\/p>\n

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How I discovered philosophy<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Osaka, 2018 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, in my life, I have always been hungry to discover the secret of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153happiness<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in life, because I was dissatisfied and unconvinced by modern American solutions to being happy through mindless consumerism and consumption.<\/p>\n

This dissatisfaction drove me to discovering philosophy<\/a>, to find more direction, purpose, and meaning in my life.<\/p>\n

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My personal dissatisfactions<\/h2>\n
\"Osaka
Osaka urban landscape. Red, yellow, blue. 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even with photography, I am very dissatisfied with the whole field. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m dissatisfied with all the new cameras that are coming out \u00e2\u20ac\u201dI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like there is enough revolutionary innovations. Thus I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying to philosophize what we truly need in new cameras, or what is the most exciting. So far my answer is in the field of mobile phone photography<\/a>, computational photography<\/a>, and digital medium format photography<\/a>. Everything else seems lame to me.<\/p>\n

\"Osaka
Osaka, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m dissatisfied with social media, Instagram and Facebook, thus I got inspired and motivated to make ARS (photography feedback startup platform)<\/a>. This dissatisfaction also motivated me to delete my Instagram<\/a>, which has been the best thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever done as a photographer \u00e2\u20ac\u201dfeeling less distracted with my photography, and finding new ways to sharing my work (YouTube photography slideshows, uploading photo diaries<\/a> to this blog).<\/p>\n