BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

A thought: perhaps the best way to live life is to broaden your horizons– both metaphorically and literally.

Horizon Chase 

So a funny game on the iPad I’ve been playing with Seneca is a game called Horizon Chase. It is like a pixelated, old-school retro racing game in which year racing and driving into the horizon.

The horizon is an interesting metaphor because it is a metaphor of that which is just above and beyond the horizon. Nobody is 100% certain where the horizon is, but chasing it, into broaden it seems like a good idea.

A panopticon view to life

One of the things I love most about going to the hills and the vistas, going on top of the hill and looking out out it is super epic pen optic con view I have of the world, LA and things.

When you’re on top of a vista, with a total Panopticon view of the world, it is great because you feel elevated, more powerful, inconquerable, indomitable.  in fact this is why I prefer the mountains in high up vistas rather than the beach.

The beach is great and amazing everything, but still, the feeling of being higher up, you literally do feel greater, grander, more powerful, more all encompassing.

In fact, the insanely elevated feeling that I had while living in Vietnam was that I was also literally on top of the world, so beyond everything, once again, only paying $320 USD a month for rent, living in a tiny hotel room or tiny studio apartment, everything paid for, Eating at all my meals and drinking unlimited coffee, and having supreme time to focus and think, this was true paradise. Also no phone, no distractions, no nonsense.

How and where to broaden your horizons?

So the first very basic idea is that you could broaden your horizon by just not restricting yourself to one small category of things. For example for myself, even though I’m most famous for photography and street photography, my interests are infinite. Design, physiology, the body, philosophy, aesthetics, bitcoin and cryptocurrency etc.; it is all infinitely fascinating to me.

I think this is why people are so confused by me, because I refuse to stay in a small box. Even some thing that I am starting to realize more and more, being Asian American, queen American in America; everybody is secretly low-key racist towards Asian, Asian American men in America. Why? Typically, Asian Asian American guys are seen as short, not for muscular, meek, more feminine, introverted and quiet spoken, lacking social skills, and not in tune with hip-hop and rap culture; E-40, keek da sneak, too short, Kanye, Jay Z etc. 

 so when I pull up, super loud and boisterous, smiling and happy, handsome and good looking, with a really cool slick back Brad Pitt fury haircut, topless, highly muscular, full body tan, people are just a little bit befuddled by me.

It kind of goes a lot of ways, we are not allowed to be loud, boisterous, ratchet, etc. 

Don’t allow yourself to be stuck in a tiny bubble

I think the reason why there’s a trend that we must be so small narrow focused and niche is because of fear.

It looks like the modern day person is very afraid of unpredictability. We don’t like people who are unpredictable, I think in fact, we prefer people to follow a basic social script; any sort of behavior or activity which is off script, off the rails is seen as scary for a lot of individuals.

However, the extreme irony:

in real life, we hate making iContact with strangers, conversing with strangers, we always have our sunglasses on, full tents in our cars, we are afraid of social engagement and interaction. However at the same time, when we watch media TV shows, movies etc.; we love the outlandish, the ratchet, etc.

The reason why I see media  consumption is so fascinating is because I think that is what people truly desire, truly want, but, are too afraid to go get it in real life.

The same thing was a video game; then I think video games, video game culture etc. is fascinating because once again it also shows some sort of deeper human Aires, however people in real life are afraid to go get it in real life.

So what is the big issue here? 

I see several issues at play here:

First, the sociological one, and second, the ethical one, and third, the physiological body one.

Social logically, society is not equipped or optimized for free thinkers, free spirits, free individuals etc. Let us consider that essentially, we are the new mole people.

Consider the average kid, the average suburban kid, or even the average American kid, who is raised in captivity. They are born indoors, inside a hospital or whatever, since they are small, they are always indoors; in a house, in a daycare, in a preschool, in a “Montessori“,  in a car, it may be at most they are permitted 30 minutes to an hour of fresh outdoor sun and play, but all of these overprotective parents always cover them up with long sleeves, long pants, hats and sunglasses, sunblock etc., preventing them from getting all this beneficial upside from the sun and UV radiation.

Taking further, think about K-12 education. Why is it that all these institutions are indoors? I kind of prefer a more hippie Spartan approach; I would prefer classrooms that were all just outdoors.

Or beyond that, why have school at all? Honestly I think for a lot of parents, it is just seen as free daycare.

Not only that, but even once you get to university and school, college etc., you’re pretty much indoors all day. You’re indoors all day when you’re studying in the classroom, your indoors all day when you’re studying in the library or your dorm room, and when is it that students are the happiest? we are happiest when we are at the beach, hanging out with our friends, at the beach bonfire etc.

Different directions and life paths?

Assuming that you no longer need to work” for a living, then what? What do you want to become, what do you want your kids to become?

 First of all, nobody wants their kids to just become good worker bees. Because that is still the trend today.

I’m also starting to realize more more, it don’t even matter if you get the worlds best job at Apple Google Facebook or whatever; the huge downside is all these offices are still indoors. Another thought I had while in the parking lot garage;

Would you be a trillionaire if you had to live the rest of your life in a subterranean, fluorescent lit parking lot garage? Even if you had all the billions of Lamborghinis in the world? No!

Back to nature?

If we think about video games, Final Fantasy, riding around in Chocobo etc.; what is it all about? Real world, free world exploration!

I think for example, video games are good for poor kids. Why? If you’re a poor kid, and you have no money, your world is limited. Maybe besides owning a bicycle, there’s nowhere you could really go and explore.

Actually, one of my favorite memories and point of gratitude spending my formative childhood years in Bayside queens, New York was just how open freedom it was, hang out with my best friends, riding around our bikes all around town, going fishing at the pier, playing roller hockey together etc. PS 169.


The best thinking and horizon broadening happens when and while you’re just walking around. 

I think about this very literally, and also, very practically.

The big problem in today’s world is that we are so cramped. That is consider, we are just sitting on our butts all day. In fact, I’ll lead the desires that we have are just glorified butt sitting.

For example, are strange and bizarre desire to own and drive all these exotic cars, technically you’re not really doing anything. To simply approach your Lamborghini, unlock it, pop up this is your doors, hop on in, turn on the large engine, make it loud, drive really fast, spin around, Pop out, with the scissor doors going up again, looking at this beautiful design object, what is the point?

For example, a lot of people fantasize about driving the PCH, along the Pacific Coast Highway, in some sort of luxury sports car, convertible or not.

What they don’t understand is on the weekends, there are lots of cops. There are maybe four or five highway patrol just waiting to capture you and only that but most of the time it is trafficky.

Something to do which is actually much more pleasurable is just drive your whatever car to the mountains, and just going to hike and walk around! Or even more fun is just going to the gym, showing off, being loud, lifting heavy ways, and instead of revving your sports car or your muscle car, Scream really really loud in real life.

Another funny thing I have discovered:

Why are we allowed and permitted to rev the engine of our sports car and also cars, but we are not allowed to rev up our voices, and roar our voices?

For example let us say that you have some sort of Lamborghini Ferrari or Porsche or whatever; you are allowed to accelerate really quickly, posting the loud engine. And the sound of the exhaust whatever. Some people call this sound beautiful. 

But, modern day man is not permitted to be loud, scream, talk loudly in public. The modern day loser man is only permitted to wear AirPods, AirPods pros, noise canceling headphones, fully tinted out sunglasses, and stay to himself.

Real world training 

Some simple suggestions I have include simple things:

If you see a beautiful person, doesn’t matter if male or female or whatever, compliment them. Compliment their look, their face, their style their demeanor etc. whatever. One of the good things about living in LA is that to a large degree, everybody is very image-conscious. Assuming that you’re just not the typical tech nerd who always wears the company hoodie or sweater, people spend lot time thinking about their outward appearances. Their jewelry, their fashion, their clothing, their fashion sense, their car, their accessories, etc. Anything that is perceived by the outside world. 

Show me your screenshots, and I shall tell you who you are

A funny suggestion that I have is if and when you go on a first date with somebody, a simple thing and strategy you could do is either with permission or without, pull up their screenshots in their iPhone. A lot of people I see will often screenshots stuff they want to buy, stuff on Amazon, stuff on other e-commerce websites etc.

A screenshot is funny because it is almost like a public private memory log; typically we screenshot things we want to remember, or things we value, things we want to buy etc.

Once again, if you have ever shopped for clothes yourself or bought your own shoes or your own car or whatever, you two are also image punches. In fact I don’t know one human being, one modern-day human being who is not image conscious to a certain extent. 


Now what?

 so the trillion dollar question is this: let us see you brought in your horizons, you do it all well, what is the point?

First, you as an individual, the human spirit thrives on expansion. Soul expansion is a good desired outcome. The more you could expand your soul, the better.

This means expanding your ambitions, your hopes your dreams etc.

Second, exploration, our passion for novelty. For example, Seneca is currently three years, one or two months old. He really really loves and is excited whenever we discover and uncover a new playground park. We have this hand motion we invented called “ttang ttang ttang”– which is essentially a hand motion that I invented which is putting both your hands into fifths, and being them together, whenever we are excited or having fun.

Cheviot Hills playground park — we went there the other day, in Los Angeles, he loves it!

Expansion packs 

Can you imagine a world and the universe in which we never had any sort of expansions? For example, I’m grateful that we had a Diablo two expansion pack, also a StarCraft expansion pack.


Keep it easy!

Another weird thing in American society, we glorify the hard, the difficult, the painful, the arduous, the toilsome. Why? 

I have the theory; modern day society tries to indoctrinate you with the slave like, servitude mentality. If you are praised for working a lot, working hard, certainly this will benefit society. But will it benefit you? Often not.

Let us consider the foolish optimization we do: we work hard, we toil, we sacrifice our bodies our health our soul in order to make more money or whatever, buy the nicer house, the nicer car the nicer clothes, etc., we work more… But as a consequence, we sleep less, we spend more time sedentary, we become weaker sicker etc. All for the sake of what? 

Broad shoulders?

Go broad! 


What do we humans really want?