Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Fear Is a Feeling

Airplanes have and will always fascinate me. I'm sitting here on my way back from Washington state, a state that's been on my bucket list this whole year. I'm watching the sun set and the rich colors and clouds resemble brush strokes when I used to watercolor as a kid. I'm 30,000 feet in the air and I can see the sun reflect on the fluffy clouds, creating the most beautiful picture. 

But before I got on the plane to come home today, I was sitting at my gate, editing a few photos on my laptop from the retreat. The woman checking people in called my name and I nervously went up, wondering what could possibly be wrong. She asked me if she could switch my seat so a family could sit together. "Sure," I said. After muttering a cuss word under her breath, she apparently ended up making it worse by changing my seat and said for me to stay where I was. I got on the plane, sat in my normal seat by the window and a few moments later, one of the stewardesses asked me if I'd mind moving to the aisle from the window (the carseat had to be by the window for safety reasons) or moving one row up. I didn't have a great desire to sit beside a baby so I chose to move one row up and ended up sitting beside two sisters in high school. It's always fun meeting people closer in age to me so I'll take every chance I can. I have a lot of interesting airplane stories and I love that about flying alone. 

I said hi to these girls and we didn't talk much at the beginning of the flight, especially since the flight attendant brought us all DVD players as a way of thanking me for moving seats. Thanks, Alaska Airlines! But towards the end of the flight, I took out my headphones and started chatting with them about school, life, and photography. I had been editing most of the plane ride and the girl beside me had seen some of my shots. After asking them way too many questions for just having met them, I explained to them that I'm a wedding photographer, which is always a fun conversation. I don't know how I manage this but every time I've flown alone I've given out one of my business cards. Haha.

I long to shoot destination weddings and portraits so meeting new people in different states is so fun to me because you never know what could happen or who you could meet. Photography has been an amazing journey and has been a complete gift from God because five years ago, I would have never talked to the person sitting beside me on a plane. I've always been more reserved but shooting weddings doesn't allow you to be reserved. You talk loud, organize families, pose couples, ask for things, meet aunts and uncles, etc... If there's one thing I've learned since becoming a photographer, it's that fear can either paralyze us or push us. I'm still working on this but when you realize there truly is nothing to fear and that fear is only a feeling that's made worse the more we succumb to it, you choose to rise above it. It's little things like making a new friend on a plane and sharing life with people that's much more rewarding than listening to my music and editing photos 30,000 feet in the air. It's the people that we talk to and share life with that help us grow. Wouldn't you agree? What's a fear you've overcome in the past five years? 



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