Curiosity and leisure thoughts
So I’ve really been diving into how I perceive the world lately, not only with my vision, but with my mind, mindset, or philosophy. What I mean is, my perspective is ultimately with shaping my reality these days through recognizing the power I have over the moments that are in front of me. When I look at the word curiosity, the word derives from the roots,
Latin: cūriōsus — “careful,” “inquisitive,” “eager to know,” from cūra (care, concern).
As artists, I believe it’s our duty to articulate the unknown, to put order to the chaos in our frames. When you look at life, it’s out of our control, spontaneous, serendipitous, random with entropy. However, as if Photographer, you possess the ability to put four corners around life, to make sense of this world around us. When you look at life this way, with a deep sense of curiosity, with the appreciation for the details, You’ll become so immersed in the present moment.
Die every day
One philosophical mindset and approach to life that I adopted my daily routine is treating each morning like a miniature birth, and each night like a miniature death. What this does is, set my day up for success, where I enter a flow state, living in each moment to my maximum potential with vitality, vigor, and curiosity. If you go to bed every night, assuming you won’t wake up the next day, it set you up with a sense of urgency in each moment, paying close attention to the moments, and making sense of it, articulating the moments in front of you, and making Potential photographs out of everything that you see. 
We have a past, we have a future, but these things aren’t of my concern. My concern is waking up each day with curiosity, and a child like state, like I was just born again, so that I can go out there each day with a new perspective of photographing Endlessly. In order to achieve this mindset and flow state, one must forget everything they think they know. Let go of all preconceptions of what you think. A good photograph is, and simply photograph what your inner child would see.  one practical lab in cultivating curiosity is by using the macro feature on my camera paying close attention to the details around me. I also look up at the looming trees in the skyline, photographing what’s up high, what’s down low, changing my perspective, both physically and mentally. By changing the way that you articulate the world through bending down on your knees, are going up to a high vantage point, or even just simply diving into your mind and how you perceive the world, you can create new photographs each day in a flow state. 
Another practical suggestion I have is to just find yourself on top of a bridge, on a skyscraper, on a cliff, mountain, somewhere where you can see on the horizon with a Panopticon view, where you can see 360° around you and beyond the horizon. When in doubt, just return to this place, and photograph that location.
Elevate your body, your mind, your spirit. 
They’re living in the moment, and finding appreciation in the details,  you enter a blissful state. Through this feeling of bliss, this overwhelming joyful, tried like state, you elevate your body, your mind, and your spirit to a new height. Ultimately, I believe that it’s the duty of the Photographer , not only articulate the unknown, putting order to the chaos, but also uplifting humanity to a new height. Whether you’re uplifting your spirit through the active creation or other people through photographing moments and people, we can share what it’s like to experience life with all of its multifaceted complexities. through increasing our curiosity each day, you enter a joyful state, and from that joyful state, I believe we can achieve our goal, of uplifting this human experience to a new height.
Create from a joyful state. 
I believe that photography has nothing to do with photography, but has everything to do with how you engage with humanity in the open world on the front lines of life. What this means is, if you’re in a joyful state, if you feel good, your photographs will be good. Your photographs will reflect the interaction you have with the world around you, your internal mental state, your subconscious mind. It’s very hard to pinpoint exactly how you enter this flow state or exactly how you can go through photography, other than tapping into that irrational side of you, following your wins, your intuition, your gut instinct to press the shutter. Ultimately the photographs, we create our reflection of our heart, our courage. I believe that the Photographer studio is to become more joyful, as the joyous Photographer will have more lust for life, and through falling in love with life itself you can become more carefully Attentive to the details around you with curiosity.
Freedom of mind
I’ve been working in Horticulture in the Centennial Arboretum for the past year and I find that over a year now, after reading so many philosophical texts, ancient texts, tragedies, players, comedies, and even intending university lectures from the Peterson Academy, I’m becoming a scholar. It’s interesting to consider the notion of scholar, in relation to and the etymological roots of the word, where it comes from the world schole, meaning leisure .
The word “leisure” ultimately comes from the Greek word “σχολή” (scholē), which originally meant:
“spare time,” “rest,” or “freedom from work or duty.”
Interestingly, scholē also came to mean “study” or “learning” because the Greeks believed that true education and philosophical inquiry could only happen during moments of leisure — when one was free from the necessities of labor.
When I consider leisure, I remind myself how critical this is in our fast paced, lives of being more productive, working hard, harder, and striving for greater Heights. While it may seem virtuous to be a productive labor and be such a hard worker, in this modern world, it seems that the ultimate privilege to simply have the freedom of mind, the freedom to crack up a book, the freedom to spend time in nature, the freedom to walk, the freedom to be outside, the freedom to have the sun kiss your skin, the freedom to read, to write, and to create art. I find that by cultivating curiosity through my childlike perspective, it’s ultimately lead me to this State of leisure. Actually, I was working as a photographer, for parks and rec in Philly, but I really didn’t like it at all. I decided to stop working, spend about a year in solitude, walking around on nature paths, and realize that that’s where I belong.  after lots of contemplation and time alone, tapping into my inner child and curiosity, spending time in prayer
I found my path in the chaos of the city. When I was a boy, i remember spending my time in the forest, building TP, with sticks, bridges with stones, exploring the unknown. Actually, the other day at work, I noticed that some children built TP’s in the park by the cherry blossoms. as an adult, I’m essentially living out my childlike fantasy of spending all day in a park, in a forest, surrounded by trees in nature, Making art, thinking, and spending my time reading, most recently the complete works of Plato. Honestly, after reading a lot of of the different books from Plato, so far, it’s so hard to grasp and even understand, but giving myself these mental challenges, I become stronger, sharper, similar to the way which I lift weights and become stronger of the body.  so now my personal  pursuit in life is not only striving to become the best artist I can be, but I’m on the path to becoming a scholar, and even most recently enrolled in a boxing course, and desire to become a fighter. It’s time to embrace the next Renaissance the digital Renaissance, return to the classical Greek tradition striving for excellence. Life is way too short to be mediocre, to be complacent, and to live a life in comfort, which seems to be the new modern day norm.   it’s time to become the best that we can be, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
As the cherry blossoms have now bloomed, and their beautiful colors are vibrant and full of life in the park, I’m reminded of the impermanent nature of life. So the call for today, is for you to live like it is your last day, to seize every moment, and cultivate curiosity. Find your path, towards leisure, towards a life of thriving, not surviving.
The only life worth living is a life full of vitality and curiosity.
Dante