dare-to-evolve

2010-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

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2009-12-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-25T07:58:00.001-08:00

And so they sat together in all the dark places of the world where they closed their eyes and imagined all the parallel worlds that live side by side with this one. Where a version of themselves existed where voices and words were just song and they had wings to fly on the wind. A place where there were no binds. Nothing and noone to distract them from the only goal that exists...happiness. If you listen carefully you can hear them whispering...

2009-11-25T07:45:00.000-08:00

Tim Burton. Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories)

2009-11-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

2009-11-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

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2009-10-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

2009-10-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

"You are in my blood. I cant help it. We can't be anywhere except together."

2009-10-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

2009-10-06T12:17:00.001-07:00

2009-10-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

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2009-09-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

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2009-09-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

THE KIN - Keeping up with Rod #5 Vegas!!

2009-08-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am so proud and wish with all my heart I could have been there x

The UPside

2009-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Kin's new album The UPside is now available for pre-order at the Republic Project, click here to reserve your copy now!

2009-08-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

2009-08-03T01:19:00.000-07:00

OLD MATE

2009-08-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

FEELS LIKE THE SUN GOING DOWN ON ME

2009-06-27T10:46:00.001-07:00

STREET ART

2009-06-09T05:32:00.001-07:00

SUMMER WANDERING

2009-06-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

THE KIN HOME COMING

2009-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

LAZY DAZE

2009-05-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

THE RISING

2009-04-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY LOCAL

2009-04-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

Just another friendly New Yorker

FROM KEN WITH LOVE

2009-04-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

SHE WARMS MY HEART

2009-04-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

WE'RE JUST TWO LOST SOULS SWIMMING IN A FISH BOWL

2009-04-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

2009-03-26T11:16:00.001-07:00

Credit for handwriting and intellectual property to the very talent Mrs. B

THE LAUNCH OF: FIVE.HUNDRED.WORDS.

2009-03-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

"Mate… Life's a garden. You just gotta dig it!" With that, he plonked down his empty beer glass and I never saw him again.

It was 2006 and we were surrounded by the endless blue water that could be any one of the 26 main atolls that consists the Maldives archipelago. I was sitting on a resort sundeck crowded with drunken pro-surfers, other surf-industry folk and a small contingent of "exotic dancers" rumored to have come straight from Eastern Europe – a myth their distinct lack of English did little to dispel. I kicked my feet up and leaned back, taking a sip of my beer while ruminating these fine words from one of the drunkest men I'd ever met. The man in question is not important, but as he deposited his empty beer and excused himself to get another – his words have lingered with me ever since…

You see, life is a deep mystery to us all. In the animal world for instance, there is no search for meaning. There are no psychologists. No self-help books. No support groups. No drugs. No religion. No philosophy. No hate. There is life, there is survival, and there is death. The circle of life is a continuous and inextricable weaving between the species that sees survival or extinction – black or white. By contrast, the human world is a distinct shade of grey.

Do you ever ask yourself why you're here? Western philosophy will tell you life is about the self, private ownership, marriage, a career and the Great American Dream, or some localised adaptation of it. Eastern philosophy proclaims self-sacrifice, collectivism, and happiness achieved through altruism. So what are we meant to make of this – all anybody really wants in life is "happiness", right? Amid the pressures and distractions of modern life, where is happiness to be found?

Renowned psychiatrist Victor Frankl's premise is that "man's search for meaning" is the primary motivation of his life. He speaks of the "will to meaning" as opposed to Freud's' "will to pleasure" and Nietzsche's "will to power". According to Frankl, if we have meaning, we can survive anything. A Holocaust survivor himself, Frankl developed a means of finding meaning in even the most mundane and abhorrent activities. He grew a spiritual appreciation that even the SS could not destroy, and once summed it up by saying, "Despair is suffering without meaning." If Frankl could find meaning in his life within the horrific confines of a concentration camp in the absence of money, power, sex, drugs and fame, then shouldn't we be able to do the same?

The working hours have always been somewhat of a grey area for me… I'll often sit in my tree, chewing on my branch and looking on as the other monkeys in my cage bang on keyboards, slam down phones, swing through corridors and make chimp sounds at the other monkeys. I chew my branch; scratch my arse and wonder if the safe, sturdy cages we inhabit really are better than dying a spectacular death in the jungle?

Decision. It's what separates us from the animals – the conscious reasoning of an issue and the decision to take a particular course of action. In our lives, we must make a decision toward defining a purpose for ourselves and taking meaning from it to start on the road to happiness – either that or pick up a shovel and just start digging…

By JP

What is this f*cking thing?
Five. Hundred. Words. is a collaborative effort from young artists Joshua Phillips (words) and Georgina Koren (images). It's a brief search for meaning through topics relevant to a generation striving to keep on thinking, keep on changing and keep on smiling. Josh is an Australian pop-culture writer who's written for the likes of Tracks, FHM, Frankie and YEN. Georgina is an Australian photographer and photographic producer who works for photographer, Annie Leibovitz, in New York City. We're gonna send one of these round every now and then - so feel free to pass it on or delete it. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Just e-mail us. No complaints - criticism makes us drink. Enjoy.

E-mail: 5hundredwords@gmail.com

TIPS for identifying the signs your headed for a quarter life crisis!

2009-01-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

Feeling destructive? Reckless? Lost? Unhinged? Out of touch with reality? Don't stress...you're probably just on the brink of a fully-fledged quarter life crisis. Here are some tips to help you self diagnose and then appropriately self medicate your twenty something blues away...

You've become ridiculously impressionable. You meet new people, read a new book, watch a new show and all of a sudden what those people are doing is what you absolutely HAVE to do with your life and everything you've done up until that point has been complete rubbish. Your long standing goals and passions from as recently as a week ago are a distant memory and you cannot begin to understand how you were ever happy with your mediocre life.

You're almost certain you've become bi-polar overnight because mentally your up and down like a bride's nightie. Your lows usually come in the form of a 3-day hangover and your highs, well they are just scary. You're happy so long as you have something to look forward to, a concert, a friend's going away party, this weeks gossip girl and as soon as you have nothing in the foreseeable future your looking for a stool and a length of rope.

You've got about as much follow through as Amy Winehouse at rehab BUT your amazing at chewing the ear off anyone who will listen to you talk about your great new plans for the future.

Anything that relies on you for its well being is in struggle city. The plants are dead and your dog now looks more like a rat. You just looked in the mirror and you look no better.

You're consuming at least 3 coffees before 10am and then wondering why you feel so antsy.

Your desperately in love with Edward Cullen.

Your sense of self-worth and achievement is largely measured by your popularity on Facebook and your updating your status within an inch of its life.

If this is you...take my advice, pull your thumb out, two words...FUCK IT!

REVOLTING AGAINST CHANGE

2009-01-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Humans, by nature, are creatures of habit, but how much of this is a love of the familiar versus a fear of the unknown? How did we allow ourselves as individuals to get so stuck in our own lives? Just recently I realized I had allowed myself to become completely stagnant, somehow convinced that my daily life was fulfilling because it looked good on paper. I was hanging on with an iron fist to the remnants of a life that was leaving me behind, I was revolting against change - a very dangerous game to play. 2008 started for me with a near death experience of sorts, the accident a result of my fear to take the plunge and the rest of the year followed in much the same way - with me never quite taking that leap. In the wake of a new year I find myself feeling like an entirely different person, with a new mantra. 2009 will be the year of 'FUCK IT' - Fuck responsibility, fuck convention and fuck fear. I'll do what i want to do instead of what society expects me to do. A very wise woman gave me this advice in a dark moment; "Change happens first with discontent - Your psyche moves slowly, these things can't be rushed. Great change has already taken place but your not realizing all the different layers and levels within you that have already shifted. The preparation for life shifts takes time - but then all of a sudden when the time is right - it moves as fast as the wind. It's not your business to get caught up in the details of the how, why or when - it's for you to dream and ponder the endless possibilities with delight, keep your detachment to your present situation and just let it unfold. The Taoist philosophy is of non-interference - the universe is and will open for you - timing is everything - be ready deep inside, the rest will follow perfectly."

The only constant thing in life is change. Don't revolt against it. Let go...evolve. It's 2009, so Fuck it.