I usually use this intro space to rant about how fast time flies and how chaotic life has been for the past month but this time I’d like to keep it simple. As we approach halftime in 2022, I’d like to extend a warm welcome back to Loaf of Thought. There’s been a lot of uncertainty and inconsistency in the recent past but with this timely release, I’d like to reset the clock on that. You can expect monthly letters for the rest of the year, and hopefully plenty of juice in each one. Stick around, read all the way through and drop me a line if anything sparks a thought.
i’m feeling lucky
I also promise to update the playlist on time again for the rest of the year.. that being said, I’m glad the April set was fire and strong enough for 2 months haha :)
But we have a fresh set for June! Spotify’s algorithm has been recommending me some great tunes, and I mixed it up quite a bit this time. Hope you enjoy!
(Archive playlist can be found here)
manifestations
May was an interesting month for me. In fact, it was so interesting that it was Marvelous. Let me explain. At the end of April, I was trying to juggle a lot on my plate. I made a surprise trip back to Michigan to see my brother graduate, I was two months deep into a strenuous job hunt, and was finishing up my final semester of school. There were other things that were going on in the background as well that completely ate up my mental capacity for sanity. To be very real, I was quite depressed and constantly anxious of my near future; so much so that I became better at hiding my emotions. But nonetheless, going into May, I was determined to turn things around. My partner and I were in a similar situation and decided to coin the next month as “Marvelous May”. It was a strong statement to ourselves that we’d manifest everything we desired; a job, mental stability, proper rest, and more in the most positive way. Not an easy task, but it was so necessary. I manifested only the absolute best for myself and everyone around me. I prioritized optimism and positive energy at every turn and with every decision. While everything else in the world is variable and unpredictable, I could only manifest things in my own life and stay positive about it. That’s all I had left in me and I thought maybe if nothing else in my life was going the way I wanted, I could just keep my positivity up and pretend like it’ll be okay at the end of the month.
It’s now a month later and I’m so surprised. All these manifestations actually worked. Marvelous May was indeed… marvelous; because I said it would be. Albeit, it might’ve just been a coincidence, but I think my outlook for a few days really changed and that’s what made the difference. It wasn’t about working harder than I ever have or about focusing on the things that needed to get done; it was about doing it all with the intention that it’ll end up alright. Every decision I made or every job I applied to, I stayed unequivocally positive about it and really believed that it’ll work out. It’s hard to do that usually, it’s easy to mindlessly apply to jobs or take exams or make art. But when you really believe that whatever your doing is good and making a difference, then it might be that much better.
So I pass my baton of manifestation to you all for June. Take the next month or week and focus on your mentality with all that you do. Manifest only the best for yourself and the people around you. Define these manifestations, write them down, plan them out. And then pour your heart and soul and entire being into them. Prioritize optimism and positive energy at every turn and through every decision. See what comes out at the end of your trial period. At the very least, it’s never a bad thing to embrace optimism… right?
list of crazy things nobody thinks about
The title is pretty self explanatory but I’ve been keeping tabs on things that are pretty wild/crazy/weird/cool/interesting but people don’t necessarily talk about them. It’s like the r/showerthoughts but from my mind. Let me know if you think of any more to add…
Airports seamlessly schedule and manage hundreds of flights daily… without a stop… or a hiccup. Literally thousands of flights, daily.
Somehow we’ve advanced so far into technology that whatever we need is somehow in a warehouse in the neighboring state. How many warehouses are there? How many trucks come from there overnight? (Looking at you, Amazon)
As small and thin hair is, our eyes’ and tongue’s ability to detect it is ridiculously good. Especially the tongue.
There’s a different version of you in the minds of every person you know. But more importantly, each of those versions is vastly different than the person you think you are.
Each decision you make, changes your life DRASTICALLY in the long run. (We’ll talk about this more in a minute)
Why is it so commonplace for people to revert to weather talk anytime a conversation lulls or goes awkward. But also, why do we know so much about the weather and care so much?
Religion is really just trusting another person’s ideas. (Let the controversy begin ha)
Dogs (and other pets) are so much less intelligent than humans but we admire so much more of their skills. “Holy shit they can hear that???”
everything everywhere all at once
If you haven’t heard yet, there’s this movie that recently release by the name of “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”. I saw this movie a few days ago and was quite blown away. Now I don’t necessarily want to give the movie a full review or talk about the plot or VFX, but rather I’d like to provide some insight into the 2-hour long analysis and theoretical discussion my friends and I had after the film.
Remember when I said “each decision you make changes your life DRASTICALLY in the long run”? Well, it’s really begs to unravel an existential crisis. Ofcourse there’s so much that happens constantly in our lives, it can easily lead to a mind fuck.
So simple, yet so much emotion in just four words. The movie I watched basically sums up this tweet’s emotion in a visually longer fashion. FAQs might sound like: Do we need to pay attention to everything that happens? Does everything matter? Or does nothing matter? Is it even possible to pay attention to everything? Does each decision we make really make a difference? Will it make our lives better or worse?
What we often overlook is that there’s only finite amount of things we can control. And even within those things, we try to control too much. It’s so important to prioritize the things that absolutely matter and then accept that there’s so much that doesn’t matter. But the reason this sounds like taboo is because of the hypermodern and digital era we live in today; constantly surrounded by 30-second bits of information, message after another, and alerts that deviate our focus altogether. Throughout a 24-hour time period, we swim through a world of thoughts, ideas, concepts and emotions, all projected at us through images, text, and video, one after another in an endless parade. And that happens nonstop, for our entire lives unless you have the luxury of living in the Himalayas for a week. And that’ll cost you. My point is this, with a million bits of everything thrown at your from everywhere all at once, how is the human mind supposed to discern and filter the important from the non-important? I mean, do we even have the option to filter?
Example: Your friend sends an Instagram reel at noon and asks you about it when you see them in the evening. Now, if you remember it and respond jovially… great. It shows them that you care, and it’s a moment of bonding for both of you. On the other hand, if you didn’t see it or if you don’t seem to remember, it could shrug them the wrong way. Does it really matter? Well, that’s up to you. It’s easy to say you both understand that the reel doesn’t matter and they’ll understand, but do you know that for sure? Are you able to judge their response and internal reaction wiring to understand how your lack of “care” would come across..? It’s tougher and deeper than you think.
This silly and arbitrary example just reinforces the digitally charged charade we dance through. It’s not something the film explicitly called upon but thinking about it more, I realize that this film could’ve never been made in 1990 because it just wouldn’t make sense. I’m not sure if it makes sense today. Nonetheless, much like the film, we live in a series of multiverses across screens and communities, making decisions in each that will trigger wildly different realities. But is there one true reality?
When seeing the whole Planet Earth from space, astronauts note a shift in awareness/psyche, which is called The Observer Effect.
“It is the experience of seeing first-hand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void", shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere.” (Wikipedia)
While the astronauts who experience this - absolutely awesome and insane - effect are not able to magically understand the meaning of life or discern all universal moralities, they do gain a shift in perspective. They are gifted the ability to see life from a completely other-worldly view (pun intended), which therefore could trigger a change in their decision making and due diligence of importance back on Earth. The vast 99.99% majority of us aren’t given the chance to experience The Observer Effect but we can all attempt to view the world in different ways and change our perspective on little things. In other words, we have the option to choose empathy over sympathy. A lot of life’s pinches and rebuttals become binary, therefore not allowing a discussion past two endpoints. But allowing ourselves to look past the given perspectives and peek at another side of the coin not only enhances our own understanding but may also ripple empathy to those around us. Instead of subscribing to one polarizing binary over another, what about seeking the truth somewhere in the vast in-between?
And while truth is subjective, what matters is what we make matter.
Part of the beauty and joy of living comes to us through discovery. Discovery of what matters to us, what matters to those whom we love, and what matters to the folks we hate the most. And unless you’re able to change perspective, employ empathy and open a conversation, that discovery won’t go farther than an informative Instagram Reel. Even for astronauts, the Observer Effect may be ineffable and life-changing but imagine where we’d be in life if they never turned away from the Earth and said “wow, I wonder what’s out there?”
baby steps
I want to thank each and every one of you that has been supporting me and cheering me through my photography journey. So many of you have been pillars of support and inspiration as I find the next project to work on or the next artistic endeavor. The creative side of me - which is 99% of me - is always at battle with the idea of “I should be producing more art and creative work, but also it’s not good enough or worth it.” Ofcourse there’s imposter syndrome and a multitude of other responsibilities that get in the way but somehow I’ve been able to find inspiration and motivation to keep working on my photography. Some of you might be confused since my work on Instagram has slowed down… so let me explain.
At some point in 2021, I caught wind of the NFT revolution that was happening around the world. At first, like most, I was skeptical as hell. I felt all NFTs were cash grabs and wastes of money and honestly, I didn’t understand enough to appreciate any of it. All I was hearing of was crazy AI generative art that sold for thousands of dollars. It didn’t make sense. Then I started reading, and doing my own homework. I began to understand the intricacies of cryptocurrency and how it works in the NFT world. I also saw some of my favorite photographers and artists enter the world and find success. I saw artists find success they never dreamt of seeing. The “starving artists” stereotype seemed like it had a shot at being dismantled. That made me excited. So at the start of 2022, I decided to become an active member of the NFT community and I reactivated my twitter (that’s where the community lives). I connected with photographers, artists, collectors, developers and more just to get a closer look at how they saw the future of NFTs and Web3. Then I bought my first NFT. And then another. And another, and so on. And I built close, meaningful relationships with people I had never met before. But over the last few months, I’ve spent countless hours learning, listening, supporting and embracing the NFT community and specifically the NFT Photography community and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Yet, as (somewhat of an) artist, it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and just watch while the rest of the kids enjoy the playground. So I’m happy to finally announce my entry into the NFT space as an artist. I don’t exactly know what I’ll be doing in 5/10/25 years but I have such a strong belief that my art won’t die. I’ll still take photos and still design things and NFTs will be my way of proving that legacy.
Over the next couple days, I intend on releasing my first Edition piece, titled “Baby Steps”. This will be an edition of 10 - meaning that 10 identical pieces will be available to collect. (This is similar to buying a print of an art piece) This photograph will be symbolic of a humble beginning and a calculated initiation that will eventually lead to not-so-baby steps in the future.
I’ll also be releasing my first Collection of 1/1 photographs, titled “Eternals”. This will be an “open collection” of photographs taken across the world. (“Open Collection” meaning that I will continue to add to it until I die and it will technically never sell out) This collection has no consistent visual language and is made up of several miscellaneous photographs, each piece with its own voice and story. These 1/1s are not tied to a single location, genre or theme; just one artist. The Eternals collection stands to represent some of my best photo work while also proving the endurance of my artistic journey.
Thank you all for your support, love, and inspiration.
link drop
who’s idea was it to put email on smartphones…?
the one-minute-city design
being a chef can mean being a performance artist
the generational gaps of the LGBTQ+ movement
define exactly how you’re feeling
do we already live in a metaverse?
Each time I finish a newsletter, I can confidently say I have no idea what I wrote above. All I know is that it came from my mind at some point over the last 30 days and I’m just forced to trust my mind against the curse of the clock. So while I’m skeptical you’ll take anything valuable from this month’s newsletter or even read another one, I urge you to trust your mind as you enter the next month. Trust the years of trust you’ve already devoted to your mind/body/spirit and keep building that trust with yourself. Like I said earlier, manifest only the best for yourself and those around you, prioritizing optimism at every turn. If you ever need a soundtrack, refer to I’m Feeling Lucky and keep taking baby steps forward.