Moved back to NYC. Had my first painting exhibition. Got into boxing. Spent the summer in Montreal. Attended a 3-month graphic design boot camp and officially became a graphic designer!
by Jason Lam
Filtering by Category: Video
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2022
A bit of a tough year, but it ended well. Fell in love with Hawaii. Reunited with my friends. New York City! Spent a month focusing on my art in LA. Got some painting done. Went to Bali for the first time. A lot of yoga. Japan. Life is such a rollercoaster. Thank you for another year.
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2021
Returned to California. Spent quality time with family and friends. Got LASIK. Got a puppy! Had a bunch of car problems. Got rid of a bunch of stuff. Played with my nephew. Painted my first mural. Cooked a lot. Did some photoshoots that I absolutely loved. Life is beautiful and I'm happy to be alive.
Happy New Year!
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2020
Traveled to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam for the first time. Hopped on over to Japan for a bit. Covid-19 took over the world. Stayed safe in Taiwan. Taught myself some music production. Learned how to surf and free dive! Made a ton of new friends. Got really homesick, but can’t complain. I am alive, healthy, and well.
Happy New Year!
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2019
Got really into indoor plants. Became an uncle. Bought a Miata. Got back into music. Officiated my friend’s wedding. Designed some shirts. Went to Thailand and Myanmar for the first time. Made a lot of new friends. Overall just happy to be alive and experiencing this thing we call life.
Wishing you all a wonderful new year~
by Jason Lam
31
"WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOU?"
My friend, Natalie, once took me to eat at Tito’s Tacos in Culver City, Los Angeles. That was when she introduced me to this amazing dish called, “chilaquiles”. For those of you who don’t know. It’s tortilla chips covered in a delicious red sauce, freshly chopped green onions, sour cream, queso, and if you want you can even add an egg on top. Of course, we had to add the egg.
During the meal, we talked about life and artistry, which is something we often talk about. I like talking to her because she is very understanding, and as an artist herself, I feel she gets me in ways that maybe other people don’t.
And as the conversation weaved through seemingly inappropriate topics like sexual organs and other disgusting things to life purposes and goals, (we’re weird like that), she asked me:
“What’s something you wish people knew about you?”
My answer: I’m actually trying to help.
This was a question no one had ever asked me. And this was a truth I noticed I never expressed.
I’m here to help.
I want to help.
As cheesy as it sounds, I want to leave this world a better place than I found it. My desire to help informs everything I do. From my seemingly lazy days where I appear to be doing nothing. To my angry rants and frustration when I feel like things aren’t quite going the way I’d like.
I travel because I want help. I create because I want to help. I write because I want to help.
Maybe it comes across a weird way. Maybe it’s a little too abstract. Maybe it sounds too uppity or preachy. But from my experience, it always served to put myself out there and share my perspective than it was to stay on the sidelines, hoping, wishing, and praying that I would get picked.
I create, I share, I put myself out there because I picked myself. I decided not to wait. I decided to fail and embarrass myself in the hopes that I get better, and that by getting better, I can help even more. That’s something I wish people knew about me. Because I know sometimes as an artist I may seem self-indulgent. I struggle with that sometimes too. But through it all. I’m here to help. I really am.
Thank you, Natalie, for creating the space to bring that out of me. And also for introducing me to the most delicious meal of my life.
I love chilaquiles! =)
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2018
Quite a random year. But still learned a lot. I turned 30! Yikes!
by Jason Lam
THE VIDEO PLAYLIST
Inspired by the text playlist I made a while back, I wanted to create a video playlist to serve exactly the same purpose: Get me pumped to keep creating and remind me of what matters in life.
If you're not in the mood for reading, this playlist might give you the necessary inspiration you need for your next endeavor.
Videos are intentionally curated for their short duration. #1 and #6 are kind of long though. Enjoy!
1) Alain de Botton on Status Anxiety - Alain is one of my favorite philosophers. He takes knowledge from the greats and delivers his material in a way that is both easy to understand and relatable for modern day people like me. I'd be lying if I said I never felt status anxiety. This video makes be feel a bit better, and helps me understand why this is so prominent in our day and age.
2) First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy - I love this video so much. It's a video of a guy dancing all by himself, and before long, it becomes a giant party with tons of people joining in! I create many projects, often by myself, and the road gets lonely, often to the point where I just keep thinking about quitting. But like this dancing guy, maybe I need to believe in myself a little more, and in other as well.
3) Everyone Is Lonely - We're all alone here, so maybe try to just be nice.
4) Cookie Monster, Life Coach - HILARIOUS! I love this. SO MUCH. Educational and funny at the same time. It always makes me want to eat cookies and milk though, haha.
5) Robert De Niro NYU Graduation Speech - In terms of graduation speeches, most people usually share the one by Steve Jobs or Jim Carey, but I think it's worthwhile to share one that's a little less popular, but just as good. I love Robert De Niro. I also went to film school, so maybe I'm biased. Sometimes I feel like I'm still just a recent college grad, positively blind to the challenges ahead of me. Blurbs: "Passion trumps reason" and "Rejection is often not about you". (Feel free to skip if you're not into the arts)
6) The Power Of Time Off - I'm slow. I work slowly. Talk slowly. And require a lot of time off to think clearly about how to approach my work. I love the fact that Tedx managed to promote a video about NOT WORKING in a world that demands that we work faster than ever. I think time off is powerful and essential to our lives, I'm glad Stefan thinks so too.
7) Tired of Your Bullshit - Nothing like a good rant to get you off you ass and getting to work. And who better than the suave Tyrese who sang all the baby making love songs of the 90s?
8) Secrets of Life - "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you"
9) Ira Glass on the Creative Process - Any creative endeavor is rot with tons of obstacles. In moments like these, it's hard to stay motivated. Most of us quit. But Ira Glass reminds us that this is normal. Don't quit. Keep fighting.
10) Choice - "Realize that you can't make a mistake, whatever you do."
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2017
The year I created Barely Evolved Apes.
by Jason Lam
FIND YOUR GIFTS, THEN GIVE IT ALL AWAY
The wonderful music video above is from Canadian artist, Homeshake, for his new single, "Every Single Thing". In case you didn't notice, Homeshake never appears in this music video. In fact, we aren't even in Canada. Instead, we are in Taiwan with my two incredibly talented friends, Wen hao Chang, and Ning Han.
The back story:
Wen hao Chang and Ning Han originally uploaded a dance video on their Instagram 4 months ago just as a way to remember what they practiced. And just for kicks, they hashtagged the artist #homeshake.
Here's the original video:
Well, Homeshake saw the video, loved it so much and decided to have the both of them create the official music video for his latest single, "Every Single Thing".
I love this.
It's a simple, yet inspiring example of the great things that can happen when you put yourself out there, and share your gifts with the world, regardless of imperfections.
Thank you, Wen hao Chang, and Ning Han—
For inspiring us to not just continue pursuing our passions, but to share it with the world as well.
"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." —Pablo Picasso
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2016
A transformative year to say the least.
I found my smile again. Along with my heart.
Thank you 2016.
by Jason Lam
1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2015
This is one second of my life everyday for the year of 2015. I missed the first three months because I didn’t think I was going to be up to anything interesting this year and figured it was not worth documenting. That was stupid. If there’s anything I learned this year, it’s to never believe your life will be anything short of amazing. Life can be completely uneventful, but only if you let it. Fortunately for us, every second of every day is an opportunity to do something worthwhile. That’s over 31 million seconds in a year. How will you be spending your seconds this year?
by Jason Lam