How I Feel Abundance

I must start each day on top of a mountain. This is nonnegotiable for my daily routine at this point. I revisit the same mundane lane every single day along the Schuylkill River. I do this because I am filled with abundance and gratitude. Think of a video game and how if you die in the game, you are given another chance, another opportunity to respawn. If you detach yourself from this notion, and simply assume that every morning, when you wake up, that you may not respawn, you will be filled with grateful and blissful sensations for the simple pleasures in life, such as sunlight, walking, and water.

We fuel our minds with so much junk. We often watch television shows that distract us, consume news, and media that fill us with fear. I say, disappear. Go off the grid, and live in the present moment, championing this moment, right here, right now, as the only thing that truly matters. Each step you take, you are moving into the future, and letting go of the past.

Fearlessness

I remember in my childhood, I spent a lot of time skateboarding. My brother and I learned to skateboard at FDR Park. One of the first times I skated at this park, I remember seeing this one intrepid guy attempting a stunt on one of the biggest ramps that almost reached the height of the ceiling, which was essentially just a highway, I-95. Once he got about halfway up the ramp, he fell backwards and slammed his head. The gushing blood of the scene was a disaster, but the skaters gathered and encouraged him to get back up, called for help, and used the nearby ice cream truck to provide him with ice to heal his wound and stop the blood from gushing. This man, attempting such a bold stunt, that could seemingly lead to death, requires courageousness, dangerousness, and fearlessness that goes beyond the fear of death. This man had no fear, not even fear of the pain associated with his fall. I feel as though this is the fearlessness we need to go forward in life with, similar to that of a skateboarder attempting great stunts—to be dangerous.

Faith and Courage

There are no atheists in a foxhole.

When I consider the story of David and Goliath, fought at the Valley of Elah, I am reminded of my time in Israel. I remember looking out at this valley and exploring some nearby caves, discovering ancient pieces of pots from the Bronze Age. When David stepped onto the battlefield, this small boy, he armored himself with God and fueled himself with courage, or heart. He wound up defeating this big opponent, through the act of courage, killing Goliath with the precision of a headshot.

The combination of faith and courage is what carried David through the chaos, into the unknown, leaving him unscathed, almost as though he went into battle, and came out on a featherbed.

Godlike Intuition

The more I contemplate fasting, I truly believe it does get you closer to God. By remaining in a fasted state, you have a clear connection between your mind and your body. Perhaps your body is your soul, and keeping it clean, through the absence of food, digesting through your system, especially these new, modern, poisonous chemicals that can be found in most of the junk these days from a grocery store, sets you apart from the masses. Just think, we have been programmed to eat three meals a day since we were born. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner—the staple diet of Americans. We wake up, slap cream cheese on bagels, eat pastries, breads, and lead ourselves into obesity. However, fat is energy. Recognize that when you eat red, fatty meat, you are fueling your body with the nutrients that it needs. If you eat the proper foods, you will not need to eat the next day, until the end of the day.

I participated in Eid al-Adha, the day of sacrifice, a Muslim holiday while living amongst a Palestinian family in Jericho. When I was in Jericho, I witnessed the sacrifice of hundreds of sheep, making the streets of Jericho a bloody mess. Everybody gathers to feast in the evenings after fasting all day. This was one of the most biblical things I remember witnessing in life—this ancient tradition, with its roots found in the book of Genesis of the Old Testament, upheld to this day.

You must make sacrifices in order to see results. By fasting, not only will you increase your intuition, by having this clear, sharp connection between your body and your mind, I also believe that you will become the strongest and most beautiful version of yourself. I believe that there is a reason why they say that we are created in the image of God. Perhaps to be created in the image of God is to strip yourself back down to the bare bones, the basic, the empty, the absent.

The more empty you become, the more Godlike you are and will be. However, when you fill your belly with poison, you poison your soul, you make yourself ugly, and you stray further and further away from the most beautiful version of yourself.

Think of Kellogg’s corporation and many of these ultra-processed food corporations that keep our population sick. These foods, sodas, and sugary things keep our population obese, our bodies in decay, and remain addicted consumers.

Freedom is a Mindset

As I stand on top of the cliff, behind the art museum, looking beyond the horizon, I remind myself that this world is open, endless, and that there is so much to do, see, and explore. This abundant feeling comes through my mind, by championing mankind, and recalling the experiences and memories I’ve had along my journey. I feel as though this life, this world, is worth living in, championing, and elevating to a new height.

Physically, I believe freedom is in the outdoors. I remember during my public school experience here in Philadelphia, it felt like a prison. I was not allowed outside and was forced indoors for eight hours in the day. You had to enter the school through an x-ray machine, and security guarded the hall, and the doors were locked. You’re forced to sit down in a classroom, memorize information, listen to the bell, and regurgitate it in the next class. Because of this, I felt the need to escape, to find a way out, and explore the neighborhood nearby. I knew from that experience in high school, was setting me up to be a slave. Perhaps public school has set up the majority of our population to be busy, worker bees, stuck in school forever. Don’t you see those people walking around the city with backpacks on? It’s like they’re still in school! Perhaps they feel content, but I seek to go beyond, and feel exuberant. I need to have my body in motion, unconfined to boxes, cubicles, or an office building. I need to be outside the box, off the grid, moving physically through the world. You can’t get me to sit down. You can’t get me to stay trapped indoors. If you’re looking for freedom, I highly suggest that you design your life to be maximally spent outdoors.

Break Societal Norms

In this modern world, we often conform to traditional ways of living. When somebody acts differently, behaves independently, they are often stared at, mocked, or laughed at, seen as crazy, and weird. I think that being weird, or being seemingly perceived as weird, or crazy, is the best place to be in this modern world. Just because everybody else goes out to the club, parties at the bar, drinks, does endless drugs, watches stupid TV shows, uses dating apps, gets tattoos, buys cool shoes, doesn’t mean that you have to.

Think of a video game character, when you craft him in the beginning of the game, like Skyrim, where you’re looking at the naked man, giving him armor, facial hair, setting his size, putting on shoes, changing the color of his skin, the shape of his eyes, eyebrows, nose, etc. Maybe we must go back to the default, the beginning, carte blanche, and build our character again. Rethink any behavior patterns that you deem to be questionable, recalibrate your mind, free yourself of societal norms, and strip yourself down to the naked, the bare bones, and create a new hero character.

We are what we are not.

There is an art to subtraction. Cut more things out of your life. Cut more people out of your life. Keep your circle small. Only do things that you deem to be worthy of your time. Don’t squander your time chasing fame, walking the same way, and doing the same things as everyone else. Find your own way out. Find your own path.

How to Thrive Alone

If you are looking to thrive alone, pick up a camera and go. The camera is the passport that will lead you to an endless amount of experiences here in life. I have everything to give to photography, all praises to cameras, art, and technology. For with this tool in my hand, I am unstoppable. I have an endless sea of memories, artwork, and experiences that I can leave behind. And the best part