Treat Life Like a Video Game

You Are the Hero Character

You matter. Treat yourself like you do. Create the world you wish to live in and augment your reality through your actions. Be the main character—the hero—in your own story. Stay engaged as your journey unfolds, and embrace the role of an active participant in life. Think of yourself as the protagonist, constantly upgrading and leveling up.

“Anything that attacks you only makes you stronger. To be a warrior and the main character is a powerful antidote to this modern world.”

Open World Concept

The world is limitless. There are no borders, no walls—only endless terrain to explore. I believe thinking beyond your hometown and embracing a global perspective is crucial for creative growth. The open world is ours to conquer. When you’re out on the streets, interacting with people, you’re in the heart of this open-world experience. This isn’t about staying indoors, stagnant, like a goblin at a computer screen. Go outside, under the sun, and embrace the real world.

“When you explore the streets and interact with people, don’t take life so seriously. Video games are meant to be fun—so let life be the same.”

Level Up Each Day

Just as you’d level up in a game like Skyrim, increase your stats in real life. I believe every gamer should supplement their passion with lifting weights. The gym is a real-life experience of progressive overload. Each day, your strength can increase by +1. Compare yourself not to others, but to who you were yesterday.

“Every day you can improve yourself, like the main hero character. In the gym, treat each rep as leveling up your strength, resilience, and character.”

Consider how each interaction and each effort makes you a stronger character, just like in a video game. Your strength, speech, and skills improve as you engage with the world. Take inspiration from heroes like King Leonidas from 300—think like a warrior, raising an army within yourself, ready to face whatever life throws at you.

Interact with NPCs

The more you engage with people in your community, the more connected you become to the world around you. Interact with more NPCs, allowing yourself to be open to new quests, conversations, and experiences throughout your day. This helps you grow in “speech” and “persuasion”—skills that make life’s interactions richer and more rewarding. Whether you’re chatting with strangers at a fountain or meeting people on the street, these small encounters add depth to your life’s story.

Have Fun!

Video games are meant to be fun—so treat life this way! Embrace the spirit of play, returning to a childlike state each morning. Stay curious, courageous, and create your own hero story. Don’t get bogged down in nostalgia or routines; life is an adventure waiting to unfold.

“Build your character, explore the open world, and treat life like the ultimate video game. Just go out there and have fun in the real world—the open world.”

Take the lessons you’ve learned from gaming and apply them to life. Treat every day like a new level, a new quest. Upgrade your mind, body, and spirit, and enjoy the journey.

If you have to be indoors, I would suggest standing and having the windows wide-open. Especially if you are working at a computer, consider the keyboard and mouse as an unhealthy solution. This is where the power of AI will become interesting. Imagine a world where we can type what we think without having to raise a finger. Using voice dictation is the best current solution.

I think the more time you spend indoors, the more unhealthy you become whether physically or mentally. The air conditioner is not natural. Perhaps keeping the window open is the best option. I suppose for the winter having a heater is necessary, but wearing a warm jacket and being outside is better.

When I walk, I can think clearly and effectively. If I am sitting down inside it’s very difficult for me to do creative work. The outdoors provides infinite creative potential. I believe through the movement of your body and being outdoors, it promotes good health and better thoughts.

Photographers should take more selfies!

Typically photographers are making pictures of other people on the streets and never consider making a self portrait. This past year I’ve been exploring the selfie as a creative solution for my photography. Whenever I’m in a situation where there is nothing of interest to photograph, I decide to turn the camera on myself. This allows me to have unlimited potential as there is always an interesting subject for me to explore!

Using Procreate on the iPad is a fun way to remix photographs. Every day when I come home from my photo walks, I like to select a few photos and apply a black and red gradient map to create multiple images out of one. I believe they are useful to add throughout blog posts as they provide a cohesive aesthetic and powerful design. Perhaps it’s time to explore more the many ways of remixing images!

I’m currently writing this blog post using the voice dictation feature on the iPad and find it to be extremely elegant. Simple is better. Using keyboards is not healthy.

The future of photography is all about innovation. There’s infinite ways to make images using the modern technology that we currently have. It’s time to transcend the traditional ways of doing things and start from the ground up. In order to radically innovate and explore the medium of photography, I believe we must forget everything we think we know and tinker like a mad scientist.

I like the idea of the bystander being the reporter of the streets. Perhaps the future of media production is in the hands of the citizens of a city. The fact that we all have phones in our pockets now with cameras and Internet connection gives the power to we people.

Insta360 X3

The Insta360 X3 is an interesting camera to tinker with. I want to innovate with new ways of producing media. “Me mode” is a very fun way to explore video using the invisible selfie stick, so maybe I can explore more possibilities with that. I am also curious about 360 photography. Perhaps I can try to learn how to embed 360 photos on my website as a creative way to showcase Philadelphia.

Innovation

The history of photography is interesting to me, but I want to push with new ways of doing things and consider the future more. I believe that there is so much potential with the medium. I like to think of photographers as mad scientists with a camera. It’s interesting to consider that the first photograph made by Nicéphore Niépce was through experimentation with science and radical innovation. I picked up the book Dear Mr. Niépce by Daido Moriyama in Paris which has been on my mind recently.

Lifestyle

I believe city life has a lot of upsides. The main problem with city life is that I believe that people spend way too much time indoors. The more time you spend indoors, the more unhealthy you become. During the pandemic, I worked from home. I installed a standing desk and a home gym, but still became unhealthy after a year at home. Perhaps being indoors is the root of all problems in modern life. My biggest gripe with modernity is the fact that a lot of the jobs require people to be stationary and indoors. The greatest thing about Philadelphia is how walkable the city is. It’s the most walkable city in the USA! There’s no need to drive and I can basically walk the entire city everyday. The benefit to living in the city is that there are plenty of people on the street, beautiful parks, a great river trail, and lots of potential for my street photography.

Photography

The beauty of photography is that the camera becomes a passport or an excuse for you to go outside and explore the real world. I believe the power of photography can change the world. The fact that photography is so accessible now with the cell phone cameras in everyone’s pockets is a great thing. We can transcend and go beyond as humans through the creation of new art.

The future of media is in the hands of the citizen. Consider the bystander as the ultimate media producer. Whether you’re making photos, videos, audio, etc. your perspective and unique voice matters. The collective can thrive together through our perspectives being shared. I believe the world would be a better place if more people share their art with the world.

I believe innovation is the future. Whether it’s in the world of art, science, technology, etc. I am currently interested in the intersection between fitness and photography. I believe that the physical nature of making photos and art connects in a unique way.

Workflow

I found the perfect workflow that works for me.

In the past I would use RAW files and external hard drives. The process was always slow because of the lag. Now that I use small JPEG files, I have a way faster and smooth process. I believe the goal is to make more pictures and publish right away, although I believe it is important to detach from the work and let it marinate for a while. I think perhaps at the end of the year I will go through my archive and select which photos are successful. I like considering the photos I make as a stream of becoming. The new work I am making is simply exploring my consciousness. I allow my intuition to guide me and let life to flow towards me. Perhaps looking at photos in consecutive order as a slideshow is a good idea. Ultimately, the goal is new photos. It’s always onto the next one.

Video

I am interested in using video as a way to explore my mind and let my thoughts flow freely. I want to use video like a writer would use a pen and paper. Perhaps it’s much faster and effective to use video as a tool to share thoughts. I believe the thoughts that we create can be art.

Social Media

Social media becomes a problem with censorship and the fact that nothing on social media will last forever. Durability is a concern for longevity. Owning your own website seems like a much more robust solution. Consider your legacy. The art that we create is as if we are giving a birth to children. Would you let your children be raised in somebody else’s home?

Forget everything you think you know, just get out there and let life flow.

The beauty of weightlifting is progressive overload