August 8, 2016

Failing doesn’t mean you have to give up.

I need to repeat this to myself until I believe it…. 

This project isn’t for a grade, I don’t post these pictures for likes or positive feedback, I don’t want comments or criticism on this work, this is for me… and it’s helping me to become more self motivated, even if I can’t completely stick to my one-picture-a-day goal…

I have found that I question a lot of what I do and it leads to a lot of self-deprecating thoughts like being indecisive, doubting my potential, and being self conscious and overly worried of failure or disappointment. When I spent so long being asked/asking myself if I was sure photography was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I ended up feeling like if I made this decision I would be trapped forever on this path… and that scares the crap out of me.

I don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret, I don’t want to look back and wish I had done something differently, and constantly worrying if this is truly what I want to do for the rest of my life has distracted me from actually pursuing my passion and figuring that out.

How am I supposed to figure out what my goals are and what I am capable of if I am constantly questioning those things? If I spend half the time wondering and worrying, that is only time taken away from doing and creating.

At this point, I don’t regret the decision I made to pursue photography. I may have grown and changed since I made that initial decision, but the value I placed on the art of photography still stands.

This summer I have learned a lot about myself, and I learned that I have a lot more to learn. I know that I have a long way to go in figuring out where I want to be and how I’m going to get there, but I can’t let my thoughts get in my way. If I’m going to be happy, I need to get myself there on my own and never give up.

If anything, I will listen to the wise words of Anja Evenson: “Do something every day that makes you proud… Greatness isn’t this extraordinary thing that only some of us are born with, it’s created one step at a time.”

So this one is for the next step toward greatness, and never looking back…