The Goal of Life Isn’t Happiness

For a while, I thought the goal of life was to be happy, to find joy through my photography. But the more I consider the meaning of life, the more I realize that it has nothing to do with happiness. Happiness is an easy state to achieve. Just stand under the sun, go for a walk, feel the ground beneath your feet in a park. Happiness is simple.

So, What is the Goal Then?

We are biologically hardwired to reproduce—to ensure survival through offspring. Of course, this isn’t something that everyone must do, but I believe this is the endgame in nature’s design. Yet, parenthood brings new burdens, ones that can be detrimental to personal health and freedom. So perhaps the true goal is something else: to seek out bigger challenges, problems to solve, and to create solutions that benefit ourselves or others.

My Current Goal

Right now, my goal is to increase my strength each day in the gym, to focus on my physiological health and well-being, and to produce more art. Each photograph I create feels like a piece of me—my legacy, my contribution.

“My photographs are my children.”