Posture Check
Everything you do should be done with intention when it comes to the physicality of life itself. When you’re walking, walk with your head up, your shoulders back, your chest open, and your core tightened. By focusing on your posture, you’re strengthening your body, spine, and muscles, allowing your legs to move you through this world with a strong gait filled with vitality.
Charge Your Batteries
When it comes to street photography practice, make sure to have at least a spare battery with you at all times. Your digital battery should be charged, just like your physical body should be.
In order to increase your energy, we must treat sleep as a sacred part of our day. Personally, as soon as I get home around 6 or 6:30 PM, I turn the lights off, put on a dim light in my kitchen, cook my meat, eat as the sun sets, and go straight to sleep. It becomes a meditative part of my day, and sometimes I even keep a book by my bedside to read so that I can fall asleep at ease. Typically, I won’t do this because I prefer reading in the afternoon, but the plan is to not use your phone or have any artificial lights in sight at nighttime.
Sun Gods
We are the new Sun gods.
I can’t stay indoors for any longer than it takes me to eat and go to sleep. The rest of the day, you can be assured that I am outside. My body is drawn to the light, like a fly or a moth is to the lamps in the middle of the night. The more time I spend in the sun, the more energy I have. I’ve recently been wearing my sun hat that I wore during my time volunteering and living in the Middle East and Africa. The sun hat is perfect, paired with my long sleeves and pants throughout the afternoon while working in the park. I personally do not wear sunscreen, but the way the sun hat wraps around my neck and covers my cheeks is perfectly fine with me. This hat has seen a lot throughout my journey, and I’m happy to bring it back out here in Philadelphia. I realized when I was in Jericho, in the desert, how important it was for me to wear this hat because of how striking the sun was in Jericho. Considering it is the lowest elevated city in the world and there are rarely any clouds in the sky, it’s basically just you, the sand, and the sun shining down on you. As much as I praise the sun and believe we should spend the maximum amount of time in the sun as possible, if you’re going to be out there in the middle of the day, around noon, you should definitely pick up a sun hat. I personally think it looks really cool too, but it’s mostly just practical.
Repair Your Cells
The only real restaurants in the city are Vietnamese pho places. Why?
I believe in 16th or 17th century France, restaurants were originally places to find cheap healing broth on the street. The word restaurant derives from the term “to restore.”
A restaurant should be a place where you go for restoration, refreshment, and to increase your vitality. Vietnamese pho is rich with nutrients and protein that we need to repair our physical bodies. Beef is filled with bone broth, which provides collagen, one of the most abundant sources of protein found in the human body. Not only does the bone broth within the beef provide this nutrient, but there are also organ meats and beef found within this delicious bowl of soup.
Besides Vietnamese pho, all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue places are good options, or the newest Brazilian steakhouse, NaBrasa, is way better than Fogo de Chão and certainly the best of the best in the city of Philadelphia when it comes to a true restaurant.
Most restaurants smell like sweaty locker rooms. Consider a salad bar or any restaurant like Chipotle, where they serve you from station to station. There’s something off about this way of consuming, where it almost becomes like the shitty cafeteria food that you would’ve consumed in high school. I remember when I was in high school, I would rarely ever eat lunch because it just smelled so bad in the cafeteria, so I would skip lunch because all they really served was ultra-processed slop.
If you want to heal your body and repair your cells, consider the power of collagen that is found in organ meats and how we can increase our protein intake, depending on the restaurants we choose to visit. Even better, just never eat out at restaurants and only ever cook your meals at home. If you want to buy your own beef liver, go to the Reading Terminal Market, to the Halteman farm, which has been serving the citizens of Philadelphia for over a century. It’s about $2.50 per pound of beef liver.
Leaders vs. Followers
The problem with modern YouTube videos is that the YouTubers are always promoting something, sponsored by someone, and never a truly authentic representation of themselves. I find it hard to watch and also hard to believe that they truly stand by the words that they express within the videos they create. I believe that film photography has become popular through YouTubers and particular channels that make it seem trendy and cool. It’s very easy to promote and gain a following around camera gear because it is consumer-driven.
There’s leaders, and there’s followers…but I’d rather be a d*ck than a swallower – Kanye West
We are merely consumers, suckered by marketing and advertisements, and I believe film photography has become popular because of this nature. Don’t get suckered by the advertisements, the lame YouTubers, and their sponsorship deals.
Are You a Bot?
I feel like people are just really dumb. It’s so easy to succumb to a trend or just generally not think for yourself. If I were to tell you that 99% of the users on Instagram were bots, and you had 1 million followers, receiving around 100,000 likes per post, but 99% of them were fake, would you still publish to the platform?
Water and Vitality
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, Africa, I learned the importance of water in the village and the critical role it played in forming community. At the center of the village, there is a well where men and women gather to grab water for the day, filling multiple buckets, which I also attended to, filtering the water by boiling it, throwing it in a gravity filter, and even adding iodine, just so that I could drink a cup of clean water. Here in the United States, we can turn on a tap and get clean drinking water in an instant.
The human body is comprised of around 60% water. Humans are merely water and meat, or water and flesh. Eat more meat and drink more water. It’s very simple; we should be consuming the things that we are primarily comprised of. Maybe if you feel a lack of energy, it is simply due to dehydration. Personally, I drink 2 liters of water before 7 AM. This way, I start my day off with energy, vitality, hydration.
The Industrialization of Society
When the Industrial Revolution introduced the automobile into our society, we no longer had to deal with cleaning the excrement of horses in the morning or the smell of their waste every day. The modern-day equivalent of using a horse and buggy is waking up in the morning and checking your Instagram.
Checking your Instagram first thing in the morning is equivalent to waking up, taking a shit, wiping with your hands, smearing it all over your body, your face, your eyes, and not wiping it off.
Weakness is Bad
Anything that decreases your vitality and increases the feeling of weakness is bad, something to avoid, and not to partake in. One thing that makes me feel tired or depletes my energy is sitting down throughout the day. Now, with this in mind, I would say that 75% of the population of a city is currently living a sedentary lifestyle. You may be wondering, doesn’t that make 75% of our population weak? I’d say, yes, it does. We are currently living in the age of weakness and softness; just look around you, and you’re bound to see every other individual walking on the sidewalk possessing some sort of metabolic disease or appearing extremely anemic. We are living in a way that goes against our human nature.
Spending any time in a vehicle, sitting down on your butt, is the equivalent of being a big baby in a stroller, pacified. Yesterday, while waiting for the bus, I like to do pistol squats, stretch, and put on a show for the people who are in their cars waiting at the red light. There was this one guy driving a truck full of workers who were all clapping and cheering me on. Another car had a lady with tattoos all over her body, lighting up a cigarette and hot-boxing her car, bashing her head around and accidentally hitting the pedal or the brake over and over again. It’s so amusing to stand at the corner, waiting for a bus, and simply observe the people in the vehicles themselves. Is it just me, or do they all look extremely miserable? Not to mention, getting simple glimpses of the people who drive would make me nervous to even step foot in a car and drive, considering how irresponsible some of these drivers are these days.
The Most Walkable City in the United States
Philadelphia is the most walkable city in the United States, and citizens of this city actually do not need to own a vehicle.
You can walk through most neighborhoods within a single day of exploration. My favorite walk is to start at the Philadelphia Museum of Art along the Schuylkill River Trail, walk throughout the Center City area, towards Old City, Penn’s Landing, Spruce Street Harbor, even Penn Park, all the way across the Delaware River, where William Penn made a treaty with the Lenape tribe to purchase the land and create the city of Philadelphia.
If you need to get somewhere specific, we have great public transportation through SEPTA. The upside of a bus is the option for you to stand. I can walk around the bus if I want to, snap photos of people, or even just outside the window, which I typically do in Philadelphia. Otherwise, Uber may be one of the greatest apps ever invented, as you can simply reach for your phone and hail a taxi instantaneously, no matter where you are in the world. This is really good for us street photographers who might find ourselves in need of a vehicle in a pinch, considering we wander off far away sometimes. Despite this, recognize that your body, your legs, are the ultimate vehicle, and we live in the most walkable city in the United States of America here in Philadelphia. I believe that this simple fact alone makes Philadelphia the greatest city to live in the USA in the current year, 2024.
Walking is Happiness
I actually walk and stand for a living. This may be the ultimate way to live our lives. Any time spent on your butt is a life not worth living. It’s really simple: physicality is happiness, walking is bliss, and it brings true joy and meaning in life. Our bodies are meant to be moving, not confined to a cage. It’s funny when you think of depression as this mental thing, where we don’t even admit that it becomes a physical problem first.
Without a strong body, you will not have a strong mind.
When you are depressed, you are probably bedridden, stuck inside, sitting down, talking about your feelings with a therapist. However, for men, all we need are some plates, a barbell, two legs, movement, some meat, sunlight, clean water, and everything will be alright. Men are extremely simple creatures. I believe men generally prefer to be outside and to be physical.
Terraform the World
Let’s redesign the world like we’re playing Minecraft in real life. Actually, consider RPG games like Skyrim, where you start the game by designing your character from the ground up. You start at the loading screen, looking at your character, naked in the flesh. You equip him with armor, give him a skin color, set his height, his weight, his facial features, etc. Perhaps it’s wise for us to redesign our character from the ground up, similar to these RPG video games, where we should strip away the superfluous and shed our skin.
Firstly, remove your shoes and connect with the Earth around you. Shoes are like condoms, where the soles prevent you from feeling the sensations. The Vibram FiveFingers ELX model has been the greatest blessing in my life for the past two years of wearing them every day. I feel so much stronger from my feet, calves, legs, upwards. I find that I am more intentional with each step I make by connecting with the ground below me. It’s also funny how we follow trends depending on what sneakers we wear, whether they are New Balances, Vans, Jordans, etc. We become the things that we own. However, by removing the shoes, the brand itself, and simply having a small glove that fits over your toes and your feet, it’s almost like you go back to being that default character in that bare-bones, blank slate when you’re starting out a new game in an RPG like Skyrim. Also, consider your shirt as optional. During the evenings, when the sun sets, I’ll typically find myself walking around the streets with my shirt off, basking in the sunlight, tanning my skin, and flexing my muscles as the ultimate fashion.
Instead of buying that lame designer shirt or clothing item, make your body the ultimate luxury item by acquiring a six-pack and removing your shirt.
I think it’s much more virtuous to have a beautiful body than to purchase superfluous, “beautiful” clothes.
How to Get a Six-Pack
Getting a six-pack is extremely easy. You don’t need to slave away doing crunches, sit-ups, and all sorts of ab exercises.
Abs are made in the kitchen.
By fasting and eating one meal before going to bed, consisting of red meat, you satiate your body with all the nutrients you need.
Do some simple weightlifting techniques, like the farmer’s walk, where you pick up two heavy dumbbells, walk them out, and put them back down. Also, push-ups and pull-ups are simple exercises that go a really long way and are something I do every day. My current situation is walking with a 40-pound plate carrier each morning for an hour in nature. Honestly, I think anyone can acquire a six-pack by just fasting, walking, and simply eating animal-based protein. I think the most critical aspect of our physique should be our posture. Focus on standing upright, walking with a strong gait, and opening your chest and shoulders. This will give you a more dominating and more beautiful and elegant presence than being hunched over, which is the inevitable outcome of our modern-day physique due to the way in which we interact with technology. By training with the weighted vest, or my 40-pound plate carrier, every day, I’m training my posture, my core, and strengthening my entire body.
Don’t Release Your Energy
I would say that 99% of men watch pornography or masturbate. While this may be natural, normal, and not really a big deal at the end of the day, maybe it is when it comes to our health and physical strength or vitality. By releasing this critical energy from our body, it’s equivalent to depleting your battery back to 0%. So, for two years now, I’ve been conserving my sexual energy, and I can say that there are definite benefits from this. I believe it enhances my focus and increases my vitality generally. Not to mention, your body naturally goes through nocturnal emission cycles every month or so. If you want to become the strongest version of yourself, overcome the mental discipline of not engaging with this habit that 99% of other men do. Become the one percent of men who transcend these norms.
Why Carbs Are Bad
I don’t necessarily think that all carbs are bad per se; personally, the only time I consume them is if I eat Vietnamese pho, but consider the bread they serve in a restaurant. When you get served bread in a restaurant, for free, it is because it will naturally spike your insulin throughout your meal. As you eat the bread, the carbohydrates break down into sugar, spike your insulin, and trigger your body to actually be more hungry than it actually is. That way, when they come around with the dessert menu, you will be more enticed to order more food, as you haven’t reached that full level of satiation that you deserve after eating a meal. This is why I believe by fasting, waiting until the end of the day, and focusing on eating the primary source of nutrient that you need, protein, and eating until you’re fully satiated, is the best option for us who are seeking to become the greatest version of ourselves.
Meet Me at the Eagle
Every day, I visit the Wanamaker Organ, inside the Wanamaker building here in Philadelphia, at 5:30. If you’re somebody who appreciates art, listening to the Wanamaker Organ is a real treat. I genuinely believe it to be one of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements, and the greatest public display of art in the city of Philadelphia. Architecture and sculpture are the highest forms of art. When you stand beside this eagle sculpture in the center of the building, underneath the high ceiling, with beautiful columns and details and ornaments all throughout the architecture, in front of this symbol of power and transcendence, with every feather of the eagle rock-carved by hand, gazing up towards a golden organ with large pipes and beautiful sounds emitting from them, your spirit is uplifted to a new height. The goal of great art is to transcend the human experience and uplift it, and the combination of sculpture, architecture, and music, transcends this world.
When I visit this location every day, I bring my iPad along with me, scroll through photographs from my day, hit the streets for a bit, then go back home. This keeps me disciplined to stay on top of my archive while enjoying some music, so by the time I get home, I don’t even have to look through my photographs. I think the point is to do everything in a public space. I like to shoot videos, photos, and even look through them in a public space. I think all great art can be found in public spaces as well, considering our great architecture and sculptures that can be found all throughout the city. I also appreciate the functionality of some of these pieces, such as Logan Square’s beautiful fountain.
Find yourself inspired by public works of art, rather than those photos or paintings and drawings, etc., that are sequestered in the galleries. There’s art and beauty to behold all around you. You just have to look with your head up, shoulders back, and chest open.