Time to Be Fearless

These days, it seems like everyone has some sort of blog. And if not, then they almost assuredly have a Facebook. Each of these things give people a medium to do something very important: think, and post those thoughts.

But these mediums are not perfect.
They're censored, often public, and not always great places to discuss personal ideas. So then what happens to these non-conforming thoughts? Because certainly, people think up an almost absurd amount of things every day. But when they're not recorded, they just get lost.

For almost a couple years, I've been writing down anything that feels important or moving, in a notepad on my phone. And it has probably been one of the best experiences of my life. I went to a concert about a year ago and I lost my phone, where all the notes were kept. And it didn't bother me that I'd lost my iPhone. The thing that really shook me was that I'd lost my collection of thoughts. Luckily, when I bought a new phone, my old notes had been backed up and re-added, so everything was saved. But really, my point is that if everyone chronicled their thoughts, if people didn't wait to get home to write about their day, if they didn't censor themselves the way they do in public spaces, then we could all come up with some pretty revolutionary ideas and learn huge amounts about ourself and the world. And this is not to say that I'm cooking up an intellectual response to the Communist Manifesto. Most of my "thoughts" probably don't seem life changing. To be honest, I'm probably pretty average. But I give myself room to grow and analyze and understand by keeping a diary, not of my day, but of my brain. The little pieces that begin to morph together reveal so much to me about myself, the people I interact with, and especially, the world I live in. I'd love for other people to do this, too. If you don't have a notepad on your phone, then just carry around a small notepad. It's simple, but it's worth it. Let me know if you start. It'd probably make my day.

Now, on an unrelated note, here is the second installment of pictures from my recent trip to the Kansai region of Japan (which is much more Southern than where I live). The places we explored were...incredible. Temples so large that they made people look like ants, wild deer and monkeys roaming streets and mountain trails, greens and blues and browns like they only exist in Crayola boxes. These places are called Kyoto and Nara. Enjoy.

Camera: Nikon FM10
Film: Portra 400

Previous: Kansai Trip, Pt. 1