This is basically how I stay optimistic about the future and avoid this mental trap of doomerism, where the world’s going to end and everything is terrible.

I have walked down this same sidewalk hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

And every time I walk down it, I see something new.

I take my camera out and I take a photo of it.

It could be a squirrel.

It could be some beautiful flowers with water droplets on them.

It could be something as simple as water drops on a piece of bubble wrap.

You see how the light is reflecting off the water droplets and the bubbles in the bubble wrap?

That’s pretty cool.

LIFE IS NEW EVERY DAY

When I go out with the mentality that life is new, it’s a new day, and I can see something new basically every time I walk out the door, it’s a very freeing reality that I’ve created for myself.

I’m using this camera as an excuse to see the world differently.

Basically every single day that I walk out the door, I’m looking for something.

And to me, that’s one of the best ways to stay optimistic in this world.

I always have something to look forward to.

And it can be something as simple as a cigarette pack lying on the ground.

Just take a photo of it.

That’s it.

TUNE OUT THE DOOMERISM

Last month I was doing one of my photo walks and this older lady smiled at me.

I said, “Hey, good morning.”

And somehow, within about 10 seconds, the conversation went to how the world is ending because of climate change.

And I’m sitting there thinking, damn, lady, chill.

I’m just trying to enjoy my morning.

I don’t want to spend my morning talking about the world ending.

It’s beautiful out here.

You can doom all you want. I’m going to enjoy this reality.

That’s kind of the mentality I’ve developed.

AN ENDLESS GAME

This is the life hack for me.

And it doesn’t have to be a camera.

It could be anything that you really enjoy doing.

But photography gives me this endless game that I can play every day.

I’ll see a random sign and notice the light reflecting off it.

That sign might not be there tomorrow.

And even if it is there tomorrow, a half hour later the light is going to be reflecting off it completely differently.

I could come back tomorrow 15 minutes later and make a totally different photograph.

So it’s this endless game that I’m playing to see how many different photographs I can take.

YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE SOMEWHERE EXCITING

And this works even if you live somewhere where there’s not a lot of action.

Santa Monica is great, but a lot of the places where I’m walking are just neighborhoods.

It’s a beautiful neighborhood, but it’s still just a neighborhood.

This could be almost any neighborhood in the United States.

You could go outside with a camera and walk down one street.

Just one block.

You could make a whole book out of that block.

Walk it every single day.

It’s going to look different every single day that you go out and actually look at it.

And that’s a very freeing mentality.

That’s one of the best ways I’ve found to stay optimistic in this world.

Tune out all the doomerism for a little while.

Go outside.

Look around.

And just take photos.

That’s all you got to do.