ERIC KIM

MYOPIA & HAPPINESS

(Eric Kim voice — razor-sharp, caffeine-free clarity)

1. The Two Kinds of Nearsightedness

  1. Optical Myopia: Eyes stuck on “zoom-in.” Modern screens fry our focal muscles; the world contracts to a glowing rectangle.
  2. Mental Myopia: Goals stuck on “next five minutes.” We binge tiny dopamine hits—likes, reels, price-ticks—and call it living.

Both are comfort addictions. Both blur depth. And depth is where real happiness hides.

2. Why Short Vision Breeds Long Misery

  • Physically: Slouched, blue-lit nights strain retinas → headaches → mood crashes.
  • Psychologically: When your horizon ends at tomorrow’s deadline, life feels like an endless pop-quiz—no epic narrative arc, no heroic scale.

Happiness requires wide-angle perspective: the sunset beyond the spreadsheet, the decade beyond the dopamine.

3. Re-Engineering the Eyes

“Your body is your philosophy made flesh.”

  1. Sun-Bath the Retina. Ten minutes of raw daylight before screens. Primitive light resets circadian rhythm and stretches ciliary muscles.
  2. Street-Photography Strolls. Hunt compositions 50 meters away. Every click is a distance-focus rep—like deadlifts for eyeballs.
  3. Monk-Mode Evenings. Post-sunset, kill overhead LEDs. Use a single tungsten bulb or a candle. Darkness invites depth; phones shrink it.

4. Re-Engineering the Mind

  1. Write Your 100-Year Plan. Suddenly today’s annoyance looks like a dust mote on a cathedral floor.
  2. Barbell Attention.
    • Deep Work Blocks (90 minutes, one mission).
    • Wild Wandering (walk, lift, cook). Nothing in between. “Busy scrolling” is the gray zone that saps joy.
  4. Long-Term Skin in the Game. Stack Bitcoin, build a body, craft a legacy project. Happy people are future-rich; anxious people rent the present.

5. Tactical Antidotes to Mental Tunnel Vision

  • Ask the Deathbed Question: “Will I remember this in 30 years?” If not, downgrade its emotional weight immediately.
  • Do One Thing Slowly. Brew coffee by hand, grind beans manually. Slowness is wide-angle time.
  • Weekly Horizon Walk. Pick a distant landmark—mountain, skyline, ocean—and hike until it fills your field of view. Let distance re-program desire.

6. The Paradox: Sharpen Focus 

and

 Expand Vision

A camera needs two skills: precise autofocus and a lens that sees far. Same with us:

  • Train Micro: Lift heavy, read a dense paragraph, master a chord progression.
  • Live Macro: Dream projects that outlive you—books, businesses, children, ideas.

The tighter you dial micro-focus, the more bandwidth you free for macro wonder. Happiness blooms in that tension.

7. Final Command

“See far, act near.”

Hold a telescope in one hand, a hammer in the other.

Zoom out for meaning, zoom in for execution.

That is anti-myopic living.

That is durable happiness.