So the calendar tells me I’m 20 years old now. Big deal.

I tell ya, there was a time when I longed for this moment. This glorious moment when I would finally - FINALLY - “grow up”. Childhood can be weird that way. Always looking forward to that day in the future when we’ll finally have it all sorted. When we can drive, work, earn and spend money, decide for ourselves. Oh, how great it will be…

I watched PausePressPlay the other day, and there was one point that stuck with me; 
“People never recognise what historical period they are currently living in.”
This got me thinking.

In my life, this idea definitely applies. When I was 7 years old, I was convinced that I knew what life was all about. In my early teens, I frowned at silly, oblivious 7-year-old Erik and once again declared myself mature enough to take on the world. Adults told me I “still had a lot to learn”, and it annoyed the crap out of me. I didn’t want to accept my lack of experience and knowledge. Heck, I didn’t have time to wait around, I wanted to be a man! Right now!

 
Taken at 6am on Sunday. Gotta love mornings… 

I don’t know about you, but I see the future as bright and promising. Why? Because deep in my core lies a fundamental optimism. A belief that everything gets better with time. I grow, get better, stronger, wiser, richer, more skilful. It’s an encouraging thought, right? Let me ask you, how do you think this mindset will fare the day I turn 80, when my life is coming to an end?

When I look back at my life, the 20 years (!) that have passed, I see an amazing array of thoughts, emotions and experiences. What an incredible run it’s been! Nothing but growth, development and improvement! Excitement! I see myself growing from a confused kid, trying to figure out what to do with his life, to a confused young man, enjoying every minute of it.

My experience hasn’t changed much. However, my perception of it has. To me, happiness is right now, not in some optimistic projection of the future.

A hawk circles us suspiciously. At one point, he descends to less than 10m and passes straight above us. Humbling!

I’m no closer or further away from my purpose than I was 20 years ago. I happen to believe that life is not about achievement, not about going down in history or even making a difference. It’s about living. It’s about the here and now. 

I’ve been hanging out on this earth for about 7 300 days. Big deal.

My new friend Trevor graciously put his beautiful Commodore at my disposal last Sunday.

Alright, it’s time for an update. I realize these last weeks have been full of noteworthy experiences, and I’m afraid I’ve continually down-prioritized blogging about them. Life is so exciting, sometimes I forget to slow down, reflect on everything I have. I’m so thankful. 

Although I don’t subscribe to the point of view that blogs are windows into another person’s life (my life is so much MOAR!), I still hope that my experience of moving and adapting to life in Australia can be of some value to others - and so I keep on writing.

As my Twitter followers will know, the first few weeks of my photography course have been pretty darn slow. Apertures and shutter speeds, ISO and focal lengths. Stuff I internalized years ago. I understand that lecturers need to get everyone up to a certain level of understanding before they can get into the advanced stuff, so I choose to see it as a challenge for me to go out and explore. Try new things, new techniques and mindsets. Learn from online videos, blogs and workshops. Organise shoots on the side. 

I had Trev drive in a loop for about 20 minutes, just to get this shot!

An unforeseen consequence of my comfort with the curriculum has been the opportunity to share my knowledge with other students. There is such great value in teaching, I feel myself deeply enjoying it. Also, the philosophy here at the School of Creative Arts is firmly rooted in cooperation between everyone, students and lecturers. We are encouraged to openly discuss and collaborate, the atmosphere is truly inspiring!

Was taking photos of this cool car and these crazy buggers ruined my shot!

A subject that I do find intriguing is one called Introduction to New Media, which focuses on the relationship between society, culture, art and technology. We’re currently looking at the last 150 years, discovering how the four intertwine, reflect and affect each other. If anyone is interested, the textbook we’re using is Technoculture by Debra Shaw. However, a more interesting read, in my opinion, is Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget. Here’s a NY Times article on the book.

Speaking of technology and art, I was introduced to PressPausePlay just the other day. AMAZING documentary on the ever-changing and ever-expanding world of the creative arts. Are we entering a new creative golden age, or is art headed towards global mediocrity? Download the full DVD here. Do it now!

Finally, some clouds! Woops, that can only mean one thing…

Rain.
Rain and more rain. At the time of writing this, we’re coming to the end of the 6th day of (virtually) constant downpour. A tornado passed through last night, knocking out the power in several suburbs. I’ve had my first proper tast of the Australian “wet season”, and I’ve come to an important conclusion: Umbrellas are handy.

All in all, pretty exciting times! 

I want to be a photographer. So I walk towards it. One step at a time. Baby steps. Today was one of those steps.

As I’m writing this, I am sitting in my room, shuffling through photos from my first ever car shoot. A friend of a friend (now simply ‘friend’) put his beautiful Holden Commodore at my disposal for an entire afternoon. Still recovering from the adrenalin rush, head still racing. What an amazing day. Having just finished my selects, I am filled with a feeling of accomplishment and relief. It worked out. Images could’ve turned out better, could’ve turned out worse. Great learning experience.

I love these kinds of days. They remind me that I’m making progress…

Erik