Check out (https://www.facebook.com/groups/185656974814125/) for the original post for this reaction.
Read this first before listening to the podcast: This was supposed to be a podcast. I recorded it and it sounds horrible. Therefore you’ll have to suffer through the written form of the podcast.
In the last podcast, I looked for some redeeming value to my perspective of “my pictures are not special”. This post is my final response to that perspective.
If you’re thinking, “But you came up with that perspective?” you are correct. Basically I’m talking to myself. What else is new?
This is also the written response to the podcast we had with Carey Hess and Dondee Quincena in the studio.
It’s also my reaction to Tabatha being embarrassed that her pictures might reveal too much about her and my contrasting opinion that mine say nothing about me.
And if it sounds like I’m talking to/about you, don’t take it personally. Honestly it’s mostly rhetorical (read: I’m talking to/about myself). You’ll understand when you listen to the followup podcast with all the examples I give. The podcast has already been recorded. I just have to edit out this written portion because like I said, I can’t stand the way it sounds.
/breathe
Imagine for a second that life has no meaning. Could you live with that?
In the golden age of self-adulation where everyone thinks everything they do has a paramount effect on the universe, where we overanalyze every action, where everyone wants their own reality TV show... What if I told you your life meant nothing. That nothing you do has any real consequence. That you'd be forgotten in 2 generations if not immediately after you'd passed. That you think too much. Too much of yourself. And too much of your work. Or maybe just too much. Period. That you ought to stop thinking. Stop wondering what other people will think. Or God forbid how many likes you'll get. Could you for then just shoot for yourself?
And for once (or at least since you first started) give yourself the freedom to shoot without consequence?
While it might seem like a pessimistic perspective to think that our lives and/or work amount to nothing, the idea that we might be nothing could liberate us from the fear of retribution that holds us back. Think back when you first started shooting. Were you ever afraid you wouldn’t get enough likes if you took a bad picture? Or that you'd lose followers if you posted something off-topic? Or that you wouldn’t gain as many followers if you posted less frequently? Nope. You just did what you wanted to do.
And you were happy.
Why? Because you weren’t governed by fear. And you hadn’t signed your life over to [insert favorite social media].
But fear isn’t “bad". It has its purposes. But in times of relative peace there is a lack of “real” fear. And in the absence of “real fear", people create “fake fear". Things that they obsess about but aren’t real. Like not having enough followers on social media.
Why? Because in times of relative peace, most people underachieve their potential. We get complacent with living comfortable lives. But deep down inside we believe that we were born for greater purpose to fulfill some destiny. In fact this is exactly how Stan Lee got rich and famous. Preying on people's desire for purpose and destiny. But unlike Marvel (and DC Comics) origin stories, people generally fail to find real purpose and destiny to our lives. Why? Because the things we come up with aren’t real.
Maybe we were wired for simpler purposes? Because historically, even without superpowers mankind’s purposes were simple. Food. Shelter. Water. Protect your family. Try not to die.
That was all the purpose we needed to lead a fulfilled life.
And so the greatest tragedy of the current generation of people is that we over assign value and meaning to things that don’t deserve such value or meaning. Like social media. Or creating pretty pictures.
So when I say “it means nothing” in reference to my pictures, it’s because it means nothing. It does not represent me. It is not the end all be all of statements about me. It is but a minutia in the grand scheme of things. I let it go and I move on.
But I'm not saying our lives are meaningless. I'm saying that the meaning we look for is generally artificial. Trying to find meaning in our pictures. Trying to find meaning in how people respond to our pictures on social media. It’s not real. It’s only real in our heads. But sadly it's negatively affecting the way we feel. We either think we're more important than we really are, or less important than we really are. Neither of which is accurate. The correct answer is it doesn't matter. We've assigned meaning to something that should not be assigned such value, merit and/worth. The value is in doing. The merit is in the act of creating. The worth is intrinsic. That worth exists outside of us and social media. And regardless, is probably overstated by us all.
I suppose what I'm against is false purpose. Kinda like false deities. We should all live with purpose. But living under the pretense of false purpose is pointless. The sooner we realize that the sooner we can do what will truly make us happy. And what would make us happy?
Shoot more. Think less.
