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A sort of “philosophical coffee table book,” it’s a photo-heavy homage and collection of the most useful and profound ideas I’ve found and integrated into my lens on life over a decade of exploring ideas (traveling, reading hundreds of books, deep soaks in diverse cultures etc.). Years ago, I listened to Chuck Palahniuk talk about writing Fight Club. He was trying to find some way to cut all the fluff from the story and decided to give Tyler Durden, the protagonist, insomnia so that in his delirious state, he would just wake up at each turn in the story for the literary purpose of leaving everything else out. Out of curiosity (what if I graphically designed the entire book first and left myself only one page to write about each idea) and necessity (my attention too often split with building a photography business to hold the thread through writing an entire book), 17 Ideas does the same — offering a striking quote, short read, and “Lenscrating” exercise to craft each idea into your lens on life — then onto the next one. In addition to punctuated offerings of personally life-changing ideas, it also explores how ideas focus and frame our awareness. We humans are the craziest creatures. Most of “the world” we consciously inhabit as adults is made up and doesn’t actually exist. You can read that and be like, “Oh come on Ethan, our world’s not that made up,” but 17 Ideas argues, “oh yes it is,” and that most of the adult world functions in the form of ideas, symbols, and patterns in our “lens” (and, for the record, we are totally enmeshed in this made up world… right now we’re locked into sharing symbols on electronic screens to convey to each other ideas). This examining of the “lens” is my favorite part of the book. The intro, entitled “Seeing Our Lens on Life,” aims the awareness of the reader at their lens. The conclusion, entitled “Crafting Our Lens on Life,” offers the agency to consciously shape your lens on life (a thing I’ve attempted and would argue to-a-decent-degree have done since writing On Viewing the World Through a Lens in 2020). Along the way, in Matrix fashion, we look at shaping the shared contents of our lenses in “Idea #15: Group Dreaming Apes” and how one can attempt to clear their lens in “Idea #17: The Move of the Mystic.” It’s super meta, and surprisingly practical. Over the past few years, I’ve imbued 17 Ideas That Changed My Life with a ton of time, energy, and awareness. If it catches your curiosity, whether you download it free or order the coffee table edition (it’s a beautiful thing to hold in hand), I hope you’ll give it the grand gift of your awareness. With the eternal love & stoke, Ethan P.S. I’ve long been more into the richness of making and living things over sharing and marketing them. If 17 Ideas earns your endorsement, I’d really appreciate you sharing it however you see fit. I’d also be super keen to discuss these ideas on a podcast, to multi-media collaborate, and surf any serendipity around these ideas that arises (I’m but a click of reply away!).
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