Minimalism as Less Less Elements
There is a popular theory doing the rounds these days. "Living in the Now".
It says, that one should neither think of (or be in) the past nor he/she should ponder or bother too much about the future. One should just live in the present moment. Like for example, while I am writing this post, my focus should entirely be on the post and nowhere else. One should stay with a single thought at a time or a single activity. I did try this approach out and it helped me bring down my stress levels.
But, there is a problem with this approach. What about the future? I mean, is it still possible to plan for a future and work towards the achievement of that goal despite "living in the now"? A plan is something via which, you try and force an outcome sometime in the future. The results, may or may not be as expected. Expectations, generally cause insecurity and therefore produce way too many thoughts in the mind.
My question is this, if one chooses to live moment to moment or in the now, can he still plan for the future? If yes, the then how does this theory integrate the planning/goal setting aspect?.
Lets get back to the photo. It reminds me of the conversation I had with my uncle from US, on future plans. He asked me this, "Where do you see yourself 5 years from now. What is your plan?" and my answer to him was a question in return, "Can you say for sure, that you will wake up tomorrow morning, forget about the future.?" He was surprised by my answer and I further added in response, "I can only work hard, and that is all. I have not seen the future, nor it is under my control. If I start believing, that I have some control over it, that is as good as having an illusion. The unexpected always happens and that's what life is all about. If, it can be predicted or steered the way you want to, it cant be termed Life."
Note: to some extent you do play a part in affecting your life, but that is very minuscule.
So these posters are like those future plans, that mostly never work out and therefore are torn.
The shot as you see, has been composed from a side angle, that I usually prefer. The blue back of the green poster made me choose this poster from the many available, as it gave me an interesting color palette. Also, everything is kept pretty sharp in the frame. It is very tempting to use a shallow depth of field on such angles but in Minimalist Photography, keeping everything sharp is most ideal. And next time, I will try and choose a neutral language on the poster( like English) rather than a regional one.
Note: Do check my sales website prakash-ghai.pixels.com
I sell my photos via the Pixels.com USA tie-up. Photos are printed in the US and they ship worldwide.
It says, that one should neither think of (or be in) the past nor he/she should ponder or bother too much about the future. One should just live in the present moment. Like for example, while I am writing this post, my focus should entirely be on the post and nowhere else. One should stay with a single thought at a time or a single activity. I did try this approach out and it helped me bring down my stress levels.
But, there is a problem with this approach. What about the future? I mean, is it still possible to plan for a future and work towards the achievement of that goal despite "living in the now"? A plan is something via which, you try and force an outcome sometime in the future. The results, may or may not be as expected. Expectations, generally cause insecurity and therefore produce way too many thoughts in the mind.
My question is this, if one chooses to live moment to moment or in the now, can he still plan for the future? If yes, the then how does this theory integrate the planning/goal setting aspect?.
Lets get back to the photo. It reminds me of the conversation I had with my uncle from US, on future plans. He asked me this, "Where do you see yourself 5 years from now. What is your plan?" and my answer to him was a question in return, "Can you say for sure, that you will wake up tomorrow morning, forget about the future.?" He was surprised by my answer and I further added in response, "I can only work hard, and that is all. I have not seen the future, nor it is under my control. If I start believing, that I have some control over it, that is as good as having an illusion. The unexpected always happens and that's what life is all about. If, it can be predicted or steered the way you want to, it cant be termed Life."
Note: to some extent you do play a part in affecting your life, but that is very minuscule.
So these posters are like those future plans, that mostly never work out and therefore are torn.
The shot as you see, has been composed from a side angle, that I usually prefer. The blue back of the green poster made me choose this poster from the many available, as it gave me an interesting color palette. Also, everything is kept pretty sharp in the frame. It is very tempting to use a shallow depth of field on such angles but in Minimalist Photography, keeping everything sharp is most ideal. And next time, I will try and choose a neutral language on the poster( like English) rather than a regional one.
Note: Do check my sales website prakash-ghai.pixels.com
I sell my photos via the Pixels.com USA tie-up. Photos are printed in the US and they ship worldwide.
I find this post of yours pretty interesting! I have myself thought over this quite some time. In my opinion, this question falls into the stereotype that we humans have formed about life...get job by so & so age, get married by so and so age....you know what I mean! Fact is life is pretty unpredictable. While you may have plans, but you don't know what life has plans for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for going through. Yes Life is so unpredictable. You think you can steer it, but rather it in turn, steers you.
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