Hello everyone! To start this off I want to ask you some questions. What is it that makes you feel fulfilled in your life? What is it that makes these things fulfilling?
“Happiness is a useless word, we should use the word fulfilled instead” -Alain de Botton from the school of life.
Learning from others
One of the most fulfilling things in my life is learning from other people. I love reading literature and philosophy because it allows me to connect with other people in a a way that can’t be done in any other form. Writing allows us to curate our thoughts and feelings in a way that speaking just doesn’t allow for. Through reading what others write we can learn more than just the experiences these people went through, we get to learn about those experiences at some point after ample reflection has been done.
Looking at photography
I love looking at photographs because photography is essentially a way to communicate a story through visual symbols. I find it fascinating that no matter how long I’ve been studying photography I always end up discovering something I’ve never seen before. Whether that be an interesting scene from a place I’ve never been, or a point in time that’s long gone and everything has changed, I always find it interesting to see how people communicate through the symbols available to them. What makes me feel fulfilled from studying photography is that I can see a scene someone preserved and think to myself “I would’ve wanted to photograph that too!” It’s a great feeling to realize that other people feel the same way about something that you do. It’s what makes me feel connected to other members of the human race. That’s what I think fulfillment is, connecting in a way that isn’t superficial or meaningless. Fulfillment is bonding between brethren, and shared education is a great way of achieving that bond.
Pushing yourself to create
The act of creating makes me feel fulfilled because it allows me to challenge myself. I think everybody needs to be challenged otherwise life would just be boring. I love the challenge of trying to look inside myself, and attempt to communicate my inner thoughts and feelings better than before. I’m always striving to improve my visual communication. I want to create photographs that better communicate my feelings about the world. If I can work on this goal everyday then I’ll feel fulfilled. What about you?
