One Image; One Story

Curiosity kills the cat. And this curiosity has led to another inspiration for me, a clearer vision of what I am chasing for in my life. Out of curiosity I clicked on the one the PhotoMalaysia's veteran member, DigitalArtist's website and read his biography. His experiences and current lifestyle are truly amazing, one that I have always been looking for in my future life. Some excerpts from his website:

"I am a Gentleman of Leisure, unemployed, and loving it. I used to work for an oil company until they booted me out when it was fashionable to restructure. It was the perfect excuse for me to bum around, do the things I've always wanted to do, see the world, and shoot pictures for fun. I've always been interested in photography, but the demands of work meant that I had to put that interest on the slow burner. Although I've lived and worked in the UK, Europe, and Indonesia, and traveled extensively throughout the world on company business, I hadn't really noticed the places I'd been to. In that previous life, it was simply airports, luxurious hotels, low value-adding self-serving meetings, great restaurants, airports and home again."

Our lives are not just about working and earning more and more money. At least not the life I am looking forward to. Although, you may argue that without money, we won't be able to have the leisure to do all these, say traveling and have kinda retired lifestyle. Indeed this is true, but personally, I think it really depends on how a person want to shape his/her own life. Like DigitalArtist, he has chosen a life that will guarantee him unforgettable experiences that leave him no regrets while he leaves this world. The experiences you gain from different cultures, different history backgrounds. All these are things that you will never be able to buy using notes and coins.

Honestly, I envy him that he has gone to virtually all the places in this world.

"And I saw also some of the natural wonders of the world in all the major continents, like the beautiful lakes and waterfalls of Jiuzhaigou, the awesome Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina, the high altitude grasslands of Xiahe, the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru, the Grand Canyons of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and that of the Colorado River in Arizona, the stone forests of Yunan in China, and the Stone Forests near Uyuni in Bolivia, the amazing glaciers of Patagonia, and the longest glaciers outside of the polar regions in the Karakoram." and the list continues......

Tell me what's more important than exploring the world as much as you could and add more colourful pages into your life's diary. His children must be blessed by God that they could follow their parents to numerous places, even before they know how to walk.

I also learned something through reading his biography. You come to world with nothing and leave the world with nothing. Saving lots of cash in bank doesn't mean that you are rich. It's the experiences in your life that make you "rich". The "wealth" is irreplaceable by anything and that's the beauty in which you can only discover through travelling to different parts of the world.

"I suppose I've been lucky to have been able to travel and shoot pictures for fun like I've been doing these past few years. It's really not impossible for most of us to also do it if we set our minds to really do it. Just dont change your car for the newer model every other year, and dont be reluctant to liquidate assets to raise cash for travelling. My wife and I drive cars which are 15 years old...although mine has twin turbos, 320 bhp under the bonnet, and does 0 to 100 in just under 7 seconds....... We are selfishly spending our children's inheritance, and I firmly believe that your money is not yours until you spend it on yourself. I believe too that people who have money and no time are exactly in the the same boat as people with time but no money. When they die they will be just as poor as when they were born....and their heirs will buy expensive cars and travel the world with their inheritance.....