Last week I made a brief post on Instagram, which you can find here, but to my biggest and almost heart wrenching surprise that post had my best post interaction to date.
I wanted to write a bit more on what I said, and how it truly is alright if you aren’t where you imagined yourself to be. I originally made the post for myself and made it with the intended meaning being about where I was in life as a professional. Each and every beautiful, tender, appreciative and ever trying part of your heart knows exactly the direction it wants to go, despite the physicality of life actually taking you in that direction with each waking step.
I hope you are able to one day find contentment in your life. I hope you are able to one day find contentment in your relationships. I hope you are able to one day find contentment with family. I hope you are able to one day find contentment with the struggles you are feeling in school. I hope you are able to one day find contentment at work. I hope you are able to one day find contentment in your rate of progress as a human being.
— PLEASE KNOW THAT FINDING COMFORT AND CONTENTMENT IN LIFE IS SO, SO DIFFERENT FOR EACH OF YOU.
We live in a world where comparison is something we take in like water. We are constantly hearing and seeing things in our personal lives, in the classroom, at work, or on social media that often plant thoughts of doubt, inadequacy and so much comparison in our minds.
Working in the field that I work, it is so hard to forget that I am on a constant slope, up or down, learning about myself, my clients and how I choose to live each day. Seeing images online of these beautiful people and the consistency of other photographers images, the rawness I hope to one day create is such a two fold problem. There is such a fine line I ride every day, the line of wanting to push myself to create images of such openness and whole hearted loving, and the other side of thinking I’m never going to work with clients that will let me create such images. I have constantly had to check the latter thoughts at the door when it comes to my work. I don’t want to create images like someone else. I don’t want my clients to feel how someone else makes their clients feel. I don’t want to try capture authentic images. I want to create images like my images. I want my clients to feel like my clients, and I definitely don’t want to capture how others images feel, I want to capture how my images feel.
GROWTH IS NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL. GROWTH DOES NOT LOOK THE SAME ON EVERYONE.
You were not put here to compare yourself and doubt the path you are on. We are all learning different things at different stages of our own adventure, and please remind yourself that its perfectly fine to not feel one stitch of contentment where you are right now. The only expectations we should feel obligated to uphold are ones we put on ourselves, but please be so patient with yourself, and show yourself some love for the indirect steps you are forever taking in your ‘right direction’. Be kind to yourself when you don’t feel as though you’ve hit your mark, when you feel like you have shot short in where you want to be- and simply try to continue trusting the process and trusting yourself, when you feel like you circling all the wrong things.
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