Don’t Bleed

Let us not forget that we are currently on a big rock, spinning in the darkness, orbiting around a ball of fire, into the void, the unknown. What am I most grateful for?

The sun.

The body is a battery and the sun is the charger. Anytime I spend in the sun, I can feel my soul increasing in power, with energy, and I feel stronger, faster, and harder. Perhaps this is the ultimate goal of a human being, to evolve? To become harder, faster, stronger?

Blood is Energy

I’m currently walking along the Schuylkill River Trail, with a 40-pound plate carrier by Rogue. The weight of these plates is pushing down on my shoulders, my body, my legs, and my feet, with the Vibram Five Finger ELX barefoot shoes on. My focus every single day is longevity and increasing my physical body’s strength. Walking with this vest on for an hour feels like a great cardio workout, where I can feel my breath rate increase, the blood pumping from my heart and rushing through my body, becoming more vascular, with a low body fat percentage, where you can see the veins coming from my arms. The blood that is pumping throughout my body is distributing oxygen and nutrients to all of my vital organs, providing me with the energy and vitality I need to thrive.

I have the blood of Achilles rushing through my veins.

When I wake up in the morning, I have an insatiable lust for life, a lust for battle. I often wake up with too much energy that I must start exerting immediately, around 4 AM. I slam some espressos, grab my camera, and hit the streets right away. Maybe it’s because I’ve been eating a 100% red meat, carnivore diet for two years now. The iron in red meat is critical for the production of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that binds oxygen and transports it throughout your body. The vitamin B12 found in meat increases the production of red blood cells in my body. If you are deficient in this critical vitamin, you become anemic. Walking around a modern city, observing the physical bodies of other people, it is quite obvious that we are becoming anemic. We have pale skin, hunched backs, and are denying our physical bodies for material wealth. Sitting down for eight hours per day under fluorescent lighting, confined to the box and air conditioning, is certainly no way to live your life. Just think of a mouse and keyboard and the way that we operate technology. To me, if I use a mouse and keyboard for even a half hour to an hour, I can feel the muscles in my arms and hands cramp up. No wonder so many people have hunched backs these days. As much as I believe that technology can improve our everyday lives and help us evolve, becoming faster, stronger, and harder, I also believe that technology can inhibit us, denying our physical bodies.

What is our new goal? To become robust.

Augment Your Body

Fear is what limits us as humans. We have the fear of the future, anxiety about monetary gains and losses, and the unknown, generally. When I was a young boy, I would ride my bike for miles on end, when I was around 11 years old, going 50 miles, 60 miles, on my bike. I’ve always had this call to adventure within me, my physical body, to get me out there in the world. Perhaps the use of a bike is similar to that of being an augmented human. Consider the way that we use vehicles, cars, planes, or even computers. We augment our reality through the technology itself. The simple use of a camera and photographing life provides the user with the ability to create art or even connect with people through FaceTime across the globe. The advancements of technology change the way that we work and do things. My critique of the mayor’s recent decision to send everybody to the office five days per week is that it’s the ultimate denial of human potential. Maybe the city should issue standing desks for every single office building in the city?

Ignore Fear

Fear of the unknown is something that we must set aside.

Think of the TV, the news, the media, and all of the negative things that are portrayed upon the screens these days. I say, this is merely fear, and hatred. The more that we talk about Donald Trump, and how much we hate Donald Trump, how much he is a Nazi, tyrant, etc., the more hate you’re fueling into the mass population of people around us. The more negativity and fear that we promote, the more hateful and negative the people will be. It is inevitable that the media’s reaction to figures in politics influences the energy that is displayed in reality. I see people in the streets constantly protesting things that have nothing to do with our immediate city or Commonwealth. People become so wrapped up in an alternate world, or matrix, that they make rash decisions in the physical flesh. Think of the shooter attempting to assassinate Donald Trump. I think that all of the hatred the media has portrayed of him bubbled up to that moment. Maybe the media? They promoted enough fear and hate that that negative energy manifested in reality.

Swim with the Sharks

During my trip to Belize in Central America, I swam with sharks. My friend and I went snorkeling, and towards the end of the trip, the tour guides gave us pieces of meat and had us jump into the water with sharks and feed them directly in their mouths. This is one of the craziest things I’ve ever done before, as I’ve always been afraid of the ocean since I was a young boy. However, when you set fear aside, and simply move onward, without hesitation, you float through strife and chaos on a feather bed, coming out unscathed, untouched.

Why Shame?

Have you noticed the trend towards the unnatural and the ugly?

During one of my recent trips to Miami, I noticed so many women with Botox, fake lips, injections in their butts, their boobs, etc. The physical bodies of people are starting to evolve in strange and funny ways. But why?

Maybe this is where the advertisements, celebrities, and beauty become distorted through notions of shame? My thought is, we compare ourselves way too much to unrealistic expectations, which then influences people to purchase pharmaceuticals, even partaking in medical procedures that alter their bodies. Think of that new drug or injection thing that apparently helps with weight loss? There are so many ads that I see now for these injections and unnatural things to change our bodies…

What are we to do about this?

I guess we have to just let other people be degenerates. Just don’t pay any attention to it, and just go your own way? I think it’s okay for people to choose what they want to do with their bodies, however, when it comes to the switch of hormones, transgender treatments, these things are not good and will clearly affect the mental health of the patient. If somebody wants to alter their physical appearance, fine, we have the freedom to choose to do whatever we want to do with our bodies, inject steroids, botox, etc. But if you would like to change the physiological makeup of your hormones, and what makes you a male or a female, biologically, thinking of sex, well then maybe this is where we should draw the line?

The Weak Envy the Strong?

If you are physically strong, perhaps it is inevitable that the weak will envy you. When I walk around the streets with my shirt off, short shorts on, and no shoes, people look me up and down, and sometimes try to press me. I’ve had people approach me, and ask if I’m trying to flex on them or something. However, I’m just walking my own way, shining in the sunlight, basking in my own glory. It’s not my fault you’re so weak and ugly?

In Praise of Modernity

We bled George Washington to death.

So when I was a young boy, biking to Valley Forge, I spent time looking at the monuments, the log cabins, and exploring this national historic park. It reminds me of George Washington, his troops, and the Revolutionary War. However, I’m curious about George Washington, being the founding father, the first president of the United States. He was a revolutionary hero, and somebody that I’m inspired by. However, we bled him to death?

Apparently, George Washington was sick with a throat infection, and the treatment that we used was bloodletting. Bloodletting is the process of removing blood from the physical body. We essentially drained him of his physiological energy and killed him. This is not good and certainly reminds me of how grateful I am to be alive during this time, with technological advancements that can enhance the way that we practice surgery.

When I was a volunteer in Zambia, Africa, I witnessed the practice of bloodletting. Because there are not many technological advancements in the field of medicine in these villages, inhabitants often resort to drastic measures. There are many deaths of children, and specifically, a young 11-year-old girl, was sick. Because she was sick, her father decided to practice bloodletting, cutting her body throughout her arms, face, legs, removing all the blood from her body. She had blood in her eyes, and eventually died.

In Belize, I saw the remnants of sacrifice.

During my trip to Belize in Central America, I went on a tour throughout the caves, where the Mayans practiced sacrifices of babies. They would kill the babies, drain their blood, cutting their bodies, and leave the skulls along the walls of the caves. I remember seeing these skulls, rowing through the cave on a river with a small boat, looking at the looming shadows, casting on the walls in the dark and eerie place.

Go Against the Grain

Over time, humans have learned to fly planes. Every time I step foot on a plane and travel to a new place, I’m always astonished by this phenomenon. I always remind myself, I’m currently flying through time and space right now, essentially teleporting to a new world. It’s one of the most amazing technological advancements in human history. When I was in Miami recently, I saw robot dogs delivering food.

Apparently, people kiss their dogs? This is really gross.

Also, consider waking up in the morning, and checking Instagram. This is the equivalent of pooping, wiping, and smearing it all over the place and on your face? Do you want poop on your face? No, delete your Instagram.

Anyway, what is the function of a small business these days?

Every time I visit Barnes & Noble to browse the books, I check the price on Amazon, and it’s always 50% cheaper. Maybe we should just go to the library for books? Information should be free.

During a recent trip to the bank, I deposited a check. This process took such a long time. It reminded me of why I love mobile banking, and can simply scan a check, this piece of paper, and have it directly deposited into my account. It’s way faster, requires less effort, and no interaction with another human being, or an intermediary. The problem with the bankers, and the tellers, specifically, is that they just ask you to sign up for a survey? They always make you go on your email, sign some survey, and even upon having a further conversation with them, I learned that the bank teller has to work two jobs. After her shift on a Friday night, she said that she was going to work until 3 AM at another gig. This is crazy, how can you be a banker, working two jobs, just to get by? Maybe she really is dedicated to enhancing her career, but to me, this is alarming. If a banker has to work two jobs just to get by, and can’t just relax on her Friday night, what does this mean?

Bureaucratic systems provide so much friction in life.

To be honest, these bureaucratic systems we put in place, whether it’s waiting in line for the bank teller, or at the DMV, provide so much friction in life. It’s such a slow and grueling process that nobody enjoys. Perhaps we must go faster, stronger, and harder with these systems that we create. So what is the solution? What technology can we use to enhance the way that we make payments, and conserve our economic energy?

We currently rely on paper, fiat currency, that is printed by the government at an unlimited rate. It is inevitable that we will see inflation, just check the prices of any house these days, it’s completely unattainable to afford. So what if we don’t spend our money, desire to conserve our energy, and not drain our blood?

Conserve Energy

Let’s think more about energy and how we can conserve it. One simple solution is increasing the amount of fat and protein that you eat. By eating more red meat and fatty red meat, we increase our energy. Stop thinking about calories, but consider fat as stored energy. Technically a person with a high body fat percentage can go a long period of time without food. Maybe we too should fast, just skip breakfast and lunch, and eat one massive meal before you go to sleep. Anytime I eat throughout the day, especially in the morning, or too early, you can feel your energy depleting, you become sluggish, with brain fog. Let’s increase the amount of time we spend in bed, sleeping, and just get to bed as early as possible.

SEAP (Sleep Early As Possible)

Let’s try to sleep for at least eight hours per night, so that we can wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Let’s spend more time moving and not sit still, stagnant, denying our physical bodies. If somebody tells you to sit down and take orders, just say no. Now, which path in life will you find yourself on?

In terms of economic energy, money, just don’t spend it. Only purchase the bare necessities, such as meat, salt, and rent. The only other things that man really needs are an iPad and Ricoh GR, to give life deeper meaning through the creation of art, and perhaps some weightlifting equipment, such as a weighted vest and barefoot shoes.

Consider evolution, increasing your power, and conserving your energy more. As a photographer, this starts from the ground up, from your feet, your legs, your posture. By focusing on strength, we can increase the strength of our photographs. The stronger you are physically, the more confident you are in your ability to move, explore, and create.

Remember that the sun is the ultimate source of energy.

By increasing the amount of sunlight that you absorb in the day, you store more energy in your body, similar to that of a plant. Let’s evolve, making our bodies formidable, faster, harder, and stronger.