Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back

I put some of my photography up for sale on Fine Art America a few weeks ago. That was a big step for me. Last week I took an even bigger step by announcing on Facebook and Twitter that my photography is now for sale. It’s been something that I’ve been thinking about doing for years, but just never got around to.

I put it off because I was afraid. It was a fear that came from a deep, sensitive place. Even though I love to take pictures and I know exactly what I want those pictures to look like, I find myself sacrificing that vision to make photographs that I think other people will like. I’ve tried to imitate the sleek photography of others, but in reality that’s just not me.

I was afraid that not only would people not like my pictures, but that they would go out of their way to tell me how awful they were. That’s a pretty funny and unrealistic fear now that I think about it. Of course, it hasn’t happened, but it was something that terrified me.

Mostly, I was just afraid of putting myself out there. When you show other people something that is important to you there is always a risk.

Are you putting something off because you’re afraid?

Well stop it for goodness sakes. Realistically what’s the worst that would happen if you finally got that thing done?

• It might be difficult to complete.
• You could feel insecure for a bit because you’re not sure what you’re doing.
• Somebody might hate it and criticize you.
• You might totally fail and that would be so annoying and embarrassing.

All of these things could very well happen, and so what if they do?

“In life we don’t get what we want, we get in life what we are. If we want more we have to be able to be more, in order to be more you have to face rejection.” ~ Farrah Gray

… we also have to face failure …

… looking stupid …

… flaying around in the dark like a drunken hooligan at the Brecon Jazz Festival. (The doesn’t mean anything to anyone but me, but I’m leaving it in because it makes me laugh.)

All of that might be hard and uncomfortable and it might seem that life is oh so much better when everything is easy and comfortable, but that’s not exactly true.

Growth is uncomfortable and hard, but it helps get you to the bigger, better side of life that you’ve been longing for. It just takes a few tiny steps to get the momentum going and send you hurtling off into the  beautiful world. You just need the vision to recognize the possibilities and the determination to get started.

It won’t be easy. None of the truly great things in life are, but it certainly will be worth it.

What have you been putting off that you can get started on today?