Your experience shapes your reality
I believe our individual experiences shape the way that we view the world and our reality as we know it. Some people, dwell inside, consuming endless news, media, and information that is fed to them through a screen. Other people, have the call to adventure, and travel into the unknown, seeking empirical evidence through direct experience.
Perhaps the truth is outside, under the sunlight, in the real world, embodied reality, where the experiences that you directly have are real and true. There is no amount of information that you can consume, books you will read or things that you will see from the comfort of a seat that will bring you closer to reality.
My fear is that many people live on the sidelines of life, as passive observers, and because of this, there is more division, violence, and conflict than ever. Just yesterday, I was speaking with this older lady, who was very upset about Donald Trump, going on and on about him, some sort of court case, and how he’s going to be a dictator if he’s president. What’s hilarious to me is, I’ve never heard the man speak, in the flesh, seen his face in person, or know anything about him other than the fact that I’ve seen him on TV as a TV star when I was a little kid. To be honest, I’m really grateful that I do not know anything about what’s going on in modern politics these days because it seems like it has people more divided than ever. I think the more you hate somebody, that you do not know in real life, the more mentally unwell you are.
Real life zombie movie 
Sometimes when I walked on Market Street here in Philadelphia, it feels like I’m living in a real life zombie movie. It’s astonishing how bad the city, or specifically Market Street becomes over time. I’ve seen dead people foaming from the mouth laying out on a bus stop here on this very street, as I love walking this way, practicing street photography here, enjoy the Wanamaker, organ, the reading terminal market, and even pass through the mall. The problem is, there’s so many people on drugs, strung out, bent over, in the middle of the sidewalk, with sores visible, clothing missing, walking around like real zombies. The interesting part is, nobody bats an eye, and we’re all immune to it. Cops don’t even care that much anymore and just kind of let it slide, as they pass by, not wanting to deal with it.
Have you ever read the back of a newspaper, and noticed how many pharmaceuticals are being promoted? Also, it seems like every TV channel, is bombarded by advertisements with pharmaceuticals, medicine, and drugs constantly.
Maybe most people are on some sort of drug, pharmaceutical, or mentally unwell these days. I think it’s also quite obvious when somebody is mentally unwell as you can tell by their physiology, their face, and their physical bodies. You can simply look at somebody, and determine the health of their soul. I think we need to avoid miserable people like the plague, like they are zombies, and simply stay away, ignoring them. This is the harsh reality that we live in these days, but it seems to be best to stick to ourselves, and our immediate friends or family.
One of my biggest pet peeves is people who complain. You hear it all of the time, over the smallest things that have nothing to do with the bigger picture of life. People love to complain and moan, about anything and everything. People often gossip about others, have this animosity towards people that they hardly know, lurking on their social media, or gossiping behind their back. People can’t be alone anymore, in group chats, comment, sections, forums, texting, all day long. Snapchat and Instagram allows people to showcase their lives, in a curated way, that becomes an alternate reality, Zombieland, and fake. We’re slowly becoming zombies, and far from the authentic and true reality that we can thrive in.
Unhealthy nurses
I’ve noticed the trend towards unhealthy nurses. Just walk down Walnut Street, around Jefferson Hospital, and observe the women and men that are wearing scrubs. A lot of them are obese, sickly, anemic, and unhealthy. To me, this is very alarming, as they work within the realm of health, and for the people.
If the doctor, the nurse, is unhealthy, why should I trust your opinion?
My new simple heuristic is, don’t trust the opinion about anything, from anyone, who eats cookies, drinks soda, and consumes any junk food. Just yesterday, I watched as a nurse came out of the office, gorging on chips, cookies, and had a big hoagie in her hand. We are certainly facing a trying time, where our health is on decline, and the things that we consume are mostly to blame.
When you look at a food pyramid, it typically says to eat meat sparingly. Now that we’ve been using this food pyramid, and have been tricked that red meat is bad for us, where has that let us to?
It has let us down the road to unhealthy people, obese people, and very sickly people, walking around this earth. I think that we need to start being more critical about the things that we do, consume, read, or abide by. Think for yourself, more independently, and strategically.
When you consume more red meat, you are more satiated, not hungry, and become healthy and strong. Doesn’t it make you scratch your head, why we were told that this is something we need to consume less of?
Many corporations thrive on the addictive nature of food, whether it’s cookies, chips, or any processed junk that you see all over the place in these grocery stores. If anything, my big advice is to just cut out all sugar, carbs, and processed foods from your diet. Eat more meat and eggs, as this is the ultimate medicine, not these pharmaceuticals, drugs, and things that these obese nurses like to prescribe. 
Pleasure for the sake of what?
We indulge ourselves with gluttony, and hedonistic pleasures, so that we feel better, in a world that is seemingly meaningless.  We cannot simply be, and exist in the present moment because we have been distracted, deceived, and sold a lie, that fame, money, and material things are what we are here to consume and strive to become. 
If humans are simply here to seek pleasure, what is it for the sake of? Is it for the sake of our little tongue, feeling good, enjoying the mouth pleasure? Is it for the feeling of an orgasm, a little bit of gooey stuff, that excretes out of an orifice?
These things are base level, and mean nothing. We need to seek discomfort, and thrive in it, in a way that goes beyond the basic trend towards pleasure, to sacrifice for something greater, more grand than ourselves. Pleasure is easy to come by these days, as we live in the age of abundance, with endless pleasure at our fingertips. If we simply have sex, for the sake of having sex, seeking pleasure, nothing is getting done, and nobody is reproducing. It seems like the majority is sitting on the sidelines of life, like in Wall-E, sitting in front of a TV screen, having robots feed us soda and junk. I won’t be surprised if the next thing that takes over in the next few decades is sex robots, and people stop having relationships altogether, in pursuit of pleasure, from the comfort of their homes, not even having to deal with physical people. 
My time as a fisherman
I recall my time in the peace corps, in Zambia Africa, working as a fisherman. I ate fish for about a year straight. Nothing but fish, every single night. This was the food that was most available, as I lived on a lake, and had access to the water. We ate every part of the fish, the head, the eyes, the guts, all of it. I got to know all sorts of fish, consumed my fair share to the point where I have no desire to eat it ever again.
You see, in these villages, protein is one of the most critical aspects of nutrition that is needed to give people energy and power. In the morning, people load up on carbs, particularly maize, so that they can fill their bellies, and give themselves that feeling a fullness, to power through the day.
We must recognize the power of food, and the abundance of it that we have here in the states. There are some places in the world, that rely on the catch from a fisherman as their source of protein. People work, simply to eat. They’re not working, to buy things, and flex on others. Perhaps my peace corps service, working as a fisherman, was one of my most paradigm shifting moments, that sets things into perspective for me, and has me appreciate the simple things in life, and the abundance that we have here in the United States.
Modern entertainment is boring? 
There is no amount of TV shows or movies, video games, that will entertain me. I think that most modern entertainment is boring these days at best. This is where I believe the power of photography is. It’s ability to provide novelty and entertainment within your everyday life beats all modern entertainment. For when you have a camera in hand, you can go out there into the unknown, into the chaos, and find meaning in it. I thrive with a camera, because I know that there is always an opportunity to create something from nothing. I believe that we should become producers, and stop being consumers. The more I produce, photograph, and create, the more entertained, I become.
The world is a stage, and the drama of life, is more entertaining than any thing I can passively observe, and consume, from the comfort of my home. The adventure of a lifetime is waiting, outside your door, just pick up a camera, and go. 
I could die tomorrow and be happy
At the end of the day, I could die tomorrow, and have lived a full, and meaningful life. Our experiences are what shape our reality, and we should champion them. We should seek to live to the fullest potential, and overcome ourselves. By embracing danger, and adventure, we can become the most interesting person alive. Some people, live their whole lives, as a passive bystander, on standby. But when you are an active participant, in life itself, existing on the front lines of life, you move forward, with strife, on a featherbed, unscathed and untouched, as the sheer curiosity, and courage you possess, will carry you through the chaos. 
Fear not and go forward, with adventure in mind. The adventurous, interesting path, is the best path. Don’t be basic, and conform to the modern world. We must go beyond this place, this, seemingly bamal, mundane, daily existence of life, and champion it, uplifting it to new heights, through your direct experiences, are what shape the way in which you view this life.
Choose the path of most resistance, and don’t take the easy route. When I tell you, the feeling you get, after conquering a mountain, making a photograph, in the midst of conflict, traveling far and wide, or in your backyard, chatting with and meeting new people, going to new places, experiencing things, trying new things, these are the ways in which you can live life, and give it meaning. When you feel that sensation of meaning, it fuels your lust for life. When you have a life full of experience, you are now prepared for death. For you fear not of it. As the next day, is merely a blessing, to be alive. And because of your ability, to champion mankind, you thrive. For you know that life is meaningful, and have lived through experiences, that shapes the most extraordinary reality that you could ever dream of.