OUT DOOR PROJECT
WE WENT OUT AND THESE WERE WHAT HAPPENED...
22.08.2018
us ?
this is us. photo book
P. 1
Model Nguyen Huong Tra My Taken by Le Nguyen Phuong Linh
1
2
22.08.2018
01. a day with my 3
22.08.2018
Seeking True Perfection
4
Though we’ll never come close to reaching perfection in this life, it’s nonetheless our “duty” to move toward it. We can get closer to it. The closer we get the happier we’ll be and the less suffering we’ll cause to others. By “perfection” I mean perfect love. I mean removing unloving thoughts, words and actions from our life. We can all improve on this. There’s nothing more worthy to improve on. People want to look better, eat better, make more money, etc. But it’s rare for people to make love the number one aim of self-improvement. Not romantic love. But love that does no harm. Love that forgives. Love that is not self-interested. That is the ultimate in “self-improvement.” Virtually every other kind is focused on self, with little regard for the well-fare of others.
5
Q n
6
22.08.2018
Quiet ness 7
22.08.2018
Finding Peace In Silence Many of our desires come from the fact that we’re unfamiliar with the peace that can be found in silence. Many of our desires are a way of making up for our feeling of being lost and inadequate. But when we connect with our true self, we realize that we already have much of what we need. We have our flaws, but silence helps us confront them in an understanding way, without beating ourselves up. Sometimes the feeling of inadequacy is just that, a feeling. We may not necessarily beat ourselves up about it, but we have this feeling that we’re not doing the right things in life, or that we aren’t as good as other people, or that God is not pleased with us. When we embrace silence, we’re able to confront this feeling and work on getting past it.
8
9
22.08.2018
Casting Stones
10
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” So insightful. It wasn’t originally in the bible though. Someone added it hundreds of years later. But it sounds like something Jesus would say. Either way, definitely words to live by. Every time you want to be angry with someone for something they’ve done wrong, think of something you’ve done wrong.
Think of the worst thing you’ve done, said, or thought. That way, you’ll be less likely to justify your actions by saying to yourself: yeah, but what I did wasn’t as bad as what they did.
judgment you dish out, the more judgment you’ll likely receive.
You’ll still be temped to tell yourself: yeah, but what I did is in the past. Well, so what? One day, the other person’s deed will also be in the past. And you’re not free from err in the future.
Conversely, the more grace you dish out, the more grace you’ll likely receive from others.
Treat people with the maximum amount of grace you’ve received in your own life and which you’d like to receive in the future. The more
Not necessarily from God, but from people you’ve judged and people who witnessed your judgments.
11
22.08.2018
Originals and Copycats
The world is full of originals trying to be copycats. People pretending to be something they’re not. People imitating other people.
12
Expression of originality is a scaring thing. Because we fear rejection. It feels safer to risk rejection as a copycat than it does to risk rejection as our authentic selves.
But those who don’t reject our originality will become our strongest supporters. Stronger than any supporters we could ever have as copycats. And their support will embolden us even more to be original.
13
22.08.2018
Uniqueness 14
s 15
16
22.08.2018
17
18
22.08.2018
19
20
22.08.2018
21
22
22.08.2018
23
24
22.08.2018
25
26
22.08.2018
27
28
22.08.2018
29
30
22.08.2018
31
32
22.08.2018
Wisdom Wisdom is more than mere intelligence. There are plenty of intelligent fools. Wisdom is the ability to make sound decisions. It involves empathy and compassion. It involves real world experience. It involves imagination. It involves the ability to connect dots across multiple disciplines. It involves the ability to break complex situations down into simple ways of understanding and application. And above all, self-control.
it
involves
self-knowledge
and
33
22.08.2018
03.
34
35
22.08.2018
PHUONG LINH THROUGH O 36
OTHERS’ LENS 37
38
22.08.2018
39
40
22.08.2018
41
42
22.08.2018
43
22.08.2018
44
Enjoy a day with a small novel.
Being Fully Present Quiet the voice in your head. Notice what’s going on around you, but without talking to yourself about it. Spend some time letting everything be what it is without making conscious judgments. This is how to be mindful. This is how to be fully present. It’s not easy. It’s a discipline. We don’t have to be that way all of the time. I’m certainly not. But the more time we spend practicing this exercise, the better. It will take care of a lot of our concerns. It will eliminate a lot of stress. It also gives us access to our inner wisdom, which is often drowned out by our inner dialogue. This is where you’ll find the “Kingdom of God”. It’s not coming down from the clouds. It’s already in you. You just have to access it by letting go of your own nonsense.
45
22.08.2018
Your Life Matters Your time is limited. Use it wisely. Don’t take your message, or your love, to the grave with you. Spread your message to those who want to hear it. And love the people God has put in your life to love. Everyone’s life tells a story, and everyone matters. Everything is meant to bring us closer to God. Love, humility, inspiration, are all pathways to God. They even show up in tragedy. Life is fragile for a reason. It’s supposed to make us thoughtful – mindful of how precious and fleeting life is, and to reach out to God for meaning and purpose. A story is being told, and we’re all part of it. We don’t fully know what our part is, or where this is all leading, but we are capable of having some sense of it. And that’s all we really need. We just need to know that life matters, and that we matter, and that what we’ve experienced so far is not the whole story.–––
46
Wide open eyes for her curiosity.
47
22.08.2018
The look she gave to every annoying problems.
48
Deal With One Problem At A Time It’s too much to hold all of our problems in our mind at once. We can only deal with one issue at a time. Mentally running ourselves through a long list of problems and concerns, does nothing to get us closer to solving them. We have to let it all go and be in the moment. Then, we’ll be more able to deal with one of those issues. And then another, and so on. We have a mind equipped to deal with problems, but it must be harnessed.
49
22.08.2018
The One Thing We All Need To Be Better At Negative things will happen in your life, but don’t live them multiple times in your mind. What’s stressing you, is killing you. What you’re angry about, is killing you. Negative thoughts can produce a state of crises in our body and this can be damaging over time. If there’s one thing we probably all need to be better at, it’s letting go of negative thoughts. This one thing, which can be so hard to do, could be the single most important thing we can do. We all have negative thoughts. But trying to kick them out just puts us in a battle with ourselves — one part of yourself trying to overcome another. This actually gives the undesirable thoughts more power. What we need is more mindfulness — turning our attention away from the negative thoughts. The potential effects of a world-wide revolution of people becoming more mindful is immeasurable. Peace in the world has to be won by individuals choosing to be more peaceful within themselves. Life is best lived from a state of surrender. All the planning and striving in the world cannot match the peace experienced from an inner disposition of surrender. And the clarity of thought and humble attitude it produces can create unexpected opportunities.
50
Happiness under the sun light.
51
22.08.2018 Moody with a leave.
52
I Surrender The best things in life happen after we let go. When we give it all to God and trust that things will work out the way they should — that we’ll be in the right place at the right time, and that we’ll have the wisdom necessary to do the right thing at the right time. None of this is dependent upon religious doctrine. It has nothing to do with church or baptism either. All that matters is surrender. There is a deep knowing available in all of us. But it requires surrender. That’s what faith is. It’s not “I believe, I believe, I believe.” It’s “okay God, take my life and make it what you want it to be. And help me keep surrendering along the way, because I know I’ll forget and sometimes I’ll be stubborn.”
53
22.08.2018
Bravery It’s okay to admit you’re afraid. We’re all afraid of many things. Others may not be afraid of what you’re afraid of, but they’re probably afraid of something you’re not afraid of. Bravery is not the ability to not be afraid. Bravery is the ability to do it afraid. Whether you do it afraid or not afraid, the right thing needs to be done. Fear holds us back from the life we’re meant to live. Fear prevents us from stepping out of line and starting a new line, or walking to the front of one that needs us as its leader. Fear keeps us afraid of what others think of us. But fear can be overcome by action. And it can be overcome by education. It will never be completely gone, but it can’t hold you back if you’re determined to not let it.
54
the mirror house.
55
22.08.2018
Silence.
56
There Is No Self-Improvement Up to a certain point, trying to upgrade your lifestyle is a way of running away from yourself — false compensation for what you lack internally. Up to a certain point, trying to improve yourself is a way of avoiding reality. Often the best way to improve your life and improve yourself is to recognize what you already have, and to recognize your personal strengths. There is no self-improvement, only self-awakening. Experience helps, the words of others can help, and prayer helps.
57
58
22.08.2018
59
60
22.08.2018
61
62
22.08.2018
02.
63
OUT DOOR PROJECT
WE WENT OUT AND THESE WERE WHAT HAPPENED...
22.08.201822.08.2018
us ?
this is us. photo book
P. 2 Model Nguyen Thu Trang
64
Taken by Le Nguyen Phuong Linh