Issue #3 - Reducing stress with hobbies
Bergen trip, focusing on hobbies, trying to reduce stress levels
Hello all,
Welcome back to the Thought Box! Hope that you had a great weekend.
This week, I am sending this issue to 28 people! This makes me super happy that more and more people are here to hear my thoughts and joining the journey.
We will get better together! Yet again, thank you so much for joining and supporting me. 🙏
I am really excited to start sharing this week’s issue with you. Without further ado, let’s jump right in!
⬆️ Bergen: A morale booster weekend getaway
As you might know from the previous issue(you can read here if you missed), I was in train. Specially, I was going to Bergen for a weekend getaway. I also wrote the last week’s issue while on train. So it was a good trip. After such a devastating, heart breaking tragedy back in Turkey, I need to be off from the social media and news. Solely focus on adventure and photography. The picture that you just saw on the beginning of this chapter is actually one that I got from that trip.
But let me tell you more about my experience in Bergen. We (two of my friends also joined me on this trip) hopped on a train, which took us from Oslo to Bergen. You can either go Bergen via train or airplane. Bergen line is actually very scenic route - if you want to read more about it, please help yourself from here. Be aware, it is an 8-hour train ride!
As I just said above about the scenic route part, for our case, we planned it little bit differently. We get a night train for sleeping and unfortunately, weather was pretty dark, foggy and wet all over Bergen. So we weren’t able to see that scenic route as we wanted. But even that train ride was very helpful to get away from my PC and spend good time with friends and focus on my thoughts.
I never been Bergen before. I wanted to explore the city but my main goal was taking lots of pictures and focusing on my hobby, solely on photography. No social media, no Twitter, no Instagram - except searching for inspiration for Bergen.
I might write more about the Bergen trip, what to see, what to do kind of a blog post in my personal blog soon, but I think it is not the main direction of this week’s issue.
If you are interested in reading about it, please let me know, so I will make that happen!
➡️ Looking forward to take more pictures
“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” -Vincent Lombardi
When I come back from the trip, I sat down in front of the computer and started editing pictures. Then also some of my old pictures. I am doing photography as my main hobby since 9th grade. Plenty of a time, but it is not a wine. It won’t be better, if you let it sit in the corner and not working on it. When I put more effort, I can clearly see the changes. Let’s me show you:
I am not saying this picture above is bad. I still like it. It is just improving or not improving. It’s just how much effort you are putting into. This one is just one swift snap from my iPhone and that’s it. If I continue just taking pictures with my iPhone and with lack of effort, I don’t know how much I can improve. That’s why I really wanted to put above that quote. You need to put a lot more effort. Instead of saying, “No pain, no gain”, I’d like to say as “More pain, more gain”.
Let’s see another example of a sunset picture but with more effort and with more expertise in it:
I started using much more capable gear than an iPhone. I started looking for sunrise and sunset times on my phone. Started using the compass to determine sun’s position. These all add up and turns out to be a better picture - at least, for my taste - at the end.
Seeing that my photography game is improving and the benefits of reducing my stress levels, I started focusing on taking more pictures. Trying to be more actively walking with my camera, looking forward to taking more pictures.
This saturday, last saturday for the readers, I spend more than 2 hours just in front of my camera and couple more hours in the editing process for just one single picture. But you know what - it was pretty fun!
Hopefully, I will be more active and taking more pictures.
Looking forward to it!
⬇️ Put the phone down
What helped me to reduce my stress level was actually getting isolated from the social media. I know, it is hard. It is even harder when we are experiencing this devastating catastrophe in Turkey.
I am in Norway but it changes literally nothing. My wife and both my families are in Turkey and experiencing this situation everyday. Trying to continue their lives. While they are trying to continue their lives, I need be even stronger from them. Be ready for them, if they need me.
When I am constantly exposed to the bad news from the social media, of course, my mood is going down rapidly. Then I am not really helping any body, instead also they are trying to motivate me. This is not the way. I need to be stronger for them. So every one of them.
So it is okay to put your phone down and try to isolate yourself from the bad news. Try to focus on yourself. Do the things which will make you happy. If you can’t find any, just find something that occupies your brain from bad thinking.
Prioritize yourself first.
⬅️ Throwback time: Top quote from last week
During the week, after each recap, I save some of these quotes and at the end of the week I am picking the one which resonates with me the most. This week has a clear winner. Even though it is very self explanatory quote, I still want to say couple more words about this.
As you read through out the issue, I talked about isolating yourself. Also mentioned you about the benefits of being stuck in the train for 8 hours straight. As Austin Kleon says, airplane mode is state of being. You don’t need to be stuck in airplane or a train, just isolate yourself.
Focus on your thoughts.
Focus on your work.
Focus on yourself.
Well, here we are. We just completed this week’s Thought Box. Thank you so much for joining me in this issue.
I really hope to see you in the future issues. 🙏
Please feel free to reach to me from here or any social media. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram!
Also if you like this newsletter and want to share with others, you can use the button below! I really appreciate, if you can help me to spread the word! ❤️
One final note for the newcomers, I will be really happy if you consider to joining our newsletter.
Every monday, you will receive it fresh. Just click the button below!
Looking forward to seeing you on the next one!
Have a great week,
Furkan
Today’s newsletter rocks! I’ve just got camera as a gift to try new hobby and it’s motivate to find the time for it. Furkan, great work!