I live in a quiet town in the northern part of Belgium.
It’s nothing special.
Not too far away there’s a forest, but there aren’t any dramatic mountains that take your breath away, no stunning waterfalls and no picturesque lakes. None the less, it’s gorgeous here.
When I go for a walk, the wind plays through the trees beautifully; the light shines magically down forming an almost fairy-tale circle on the dew-wet grass; the birds soar overhead, before coming down to sing and chatter in the trees.
When I sit on the bench where I usually rest for a few minutes, ants crawl over, around and through the fallen brown leaves, while bees go about their tireless work, buzzing from one flower to the next.
Despite the fact that I don’t live somewhere mind-blowing – like many parts of the world are, I feel however that I kind of do. But honestly, I feel that about any place where I go. And no, this was not always the case.
Curiously enough it was because of photography that I became aware of this sense of beauty, and it was that that gave me the ability to notice the details and pay attention to them.
When you take photos, you are forced to stop, or at least slow down to take a look at life and the moment that you are trying to capture.
The more seriously I got into photography the more time I spent doing this. The result was that by always seeking out the beauty in something, searching for the tiny details that would make the picture stand out, I was unconsciously training myself to see those moments, those details even without a camera in my hand.
Photography enhanced my sense of vision. It made me start to become aware of life’s beauty and its details. Before I knew it, I was unconsciously seeing it all the time – in everything and everywhere.
This is usually something most of us have to force ourselves to pay attention to. I think the reason for that is because there is too much to see. It blinds us, we can’t take it all in so we skim over it, ignore it instead of focusing down on each particular part.
When you take a photo, however, you shut everything outside the shot out, and focus down on one specific detail, one particular moment in time. This teaches you to drill down and to look at the details of that moment, filtering out all the noise around you.
I would recommend to anyone who is depressed, unhappy, can’t find joy in life or whatever they are struggling with, to pick up a camera and go for a walk.
With a camera in your hand, you automatically put yourself into a state of awareness of your whole surroundings – simply because you are looking for something beautiful or interesting to capture.
I have lived a lot of my life thinking and feeling life was a dull and uninteresting place. When I got myself interested in photography, however, that changed and I began to get absorbed into the wonders of life.
It is not photography itself that made me happy though, but it is photography that taught me how to be happy.
It’s a tool that can help to train you to filter out everything except for one certain moment, one particular detail. It allows you to notice and completely focus on something which otherwise would have passed by unseen.
I honestly think that depression, unhappiness or the feeling of emptiness is more a lack of amazement about life than anything else.
Working on yourself can be scary, overwhelming, confusing, messy, challenging, and lonely. On this podcast, hosted by Jellis Vaes, an aspiring clinical psychologist who once battled severe emotional struggles, you’ll gain valuable insights from experts in psychology, neuroscience, and relationships, as well as people like you and me, to support you on your mental health journey, help you feel less alone, and untangle some of the complexity of mental health.
For more support, visit Inner Path Seekers.
Show notes can be found here:https://theipsproject.com/2026/04/reason-we-stay-addicted-kevin-cornelius/
Addiction is complex, deeply human, and often misunderstood.
In this episode, we take a grounded and practical look at what addiction really is and how it can be treated effectively.
I’m joined by Kevin Cornelius, a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical director at the Feeling Good Institute Silicon Valley.
Kevin specializes in TEAM-CBT, a powerful and evolving therapeutic approach developed by psychiatrist David Burns.
What I am hoping you get out of this episode, besides learning some of the reasons why people stay addicted, is that you will learn some practical techniques to start taking a small step toward freeing yourself from whichever addiction you might be struggling with.
If, after this episode, you’d like to learn more about the effects addiction has on the brain, do have a listen to the episode I did with Dr. Grisel, titled The Brain on Addiction.
📚The IPS Academy📚
If you feel that you’ve gained some insights and lessons from this video, and you are curious to see what else we offer at The IPS Project, check out The IPS Academy, where we offer online courses taught by guests here on the podcast.
Simply go to https://theipsproject.com/academy. Each course has a few lessons to try for free, so you get a taste of what the course is like. We have countless reviews from other students so you can see what others think, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you end up not liking the course.
Again, check them out at https://theipsproject.com/academy
We get an overload of drama and negativity from all directions. Unconsciously we take it all in, and without realizing it – it makes a huge impact on our life. One of the biggest sources of negativity, served up to us by a good looking waiter or waitress on an attractive plate, is the news. And we gladly take it…
How to stop self-harm? In this episode of The IPS Podcast, we have invited Dr. Stephen P. Lewis to provide a deeper understanding of NSSI.
In this actionable article, learn how and why laughter is the best medicine when you’re feeling unhappy.
