Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Keep On Keeping On

Do you need some encouragement? If so, I hope this does the trick and encourages you to keep on keeping on. This is for the photographer who doesn't feel successful, who feels like they have more bad days than good days, who constantly compares their work to others, who doesn't believe they'll ever be as good as "so-and-so", who tries but fails to imitate exactly what the industry leaders are doing, who doesn't have enough money for "the best equipment," who isn't booking anything... This is for the photographer who is about to give up. I feel you. I really do. Despite trying to keep a positive vibe online, I have bad days too. I have emotional days and I have days where I am not happy with my shots. I have days where I feel uncreative and where I feel like I would be much better behind a desk... The truth will set you free. Haha! This is the stuff no one admits online so I felt I needed to be completely honest and put it all out there.

I learned a whole lot at the retreat I just went to but a huge thing for me was that I released a lot of the jealousy I had of other photographers. There's no need to be jealous when we all have our strong points and low points. EVERYONE fails but EVERYONE also succeeds at some point or another. You can't give up because you had a bad shoot but everything you see online is beautiful. You have to remember what you see online is picturesque. Literally. No one posts the bad stuff!!! Haha.

This is the exact reason I was SO excited to take a break from social media. For some reason, I struggle with comparisons more than a lot of other people and I needed to decompress and let go. I needed to start believing in what I was doing. I needed to believe that God was using me but first I needed to let him. God wants to use whatever gift he's given you and he wants you to know it's unique. He wants you to be YOU, not your neighbor or the kid you sit across from in class, not your favorite photographer or your best friend. One of the leaders at the retreat said her pastor once told her, "If you're always trying to be someone else, who is ever going to be YOU?"

We were created the way we are for a reason and how it must break God's heart to know we aren't happy with who he made us to be. So this is me. I have insecurities, I fail a lot, I often lie to myself and say I'm not good enough, I'm not as bold as I'd like to be, I wish I were an extrovert... The list goes on. I hope this makes you realize that no one is perfect and everyone is hiding behind the internet, making it appear they are. So have a little faith in what you're doing, whatever it might be, and allow yourself to enjoy it, rather than always wishing for something more.



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