Fear is a funny thing. No matter how often we confront them we find a new one. When the clouds clear up and the sun shines through we find another cloud to take it’s place. And that is the human condition. It is the desire to find fear and face it that makes us unique. It is our undying affection for challenge and rebirth that makes us interesting.

We shelter ourselves with umbrellas and hats and rain coats so that we cannot feel the sting of the rain, but the rain is rarely as bad as one thinks it will be. It can be unpleasant and cold and lonely, but it lets you know you are alive. Just the same with fear: when we let it touch us, when we do not run away, it has no more power. The more we ignore it or shield ourselves from it, the larger it grows, an ever-present entity in your heart. But when it is unleashed, and we feel it’s full effects, we know it for what it is. We call it by name and look it in the face. We understand what our fear has to say, and we respond in kind.

Do something that requires bravery every single day.

That was the thought I had the other day that changed everything for me. I no longer felt bound by life’s rules. I simply wanted to be brave, to do something that scared me, and to face that thing head on. When we do something that takes courage, we diminish fear. It will never leave our side completely, for if it does we know we are complacent, unchanging, and stagnant. But that cloud will grow smaller, as I have watched mine for the last few years, until it is a friend, a companion, waiting to challenge you.

Don’t let your storm cloud grow so large it changes the lives of others.  And just as importantly, don’t let it cast a shadow over your life. Take control of it. Embrace it. Learn to see the good in it. And when you do, you might find that it has moved on without unleashing the storm you were expecting. Because when we love our fears, we make room for blue sky days.

Model: Mia Hutchinson

Share here a fear that you are currently struggling with.

Share one way that you exhibited bravery in the last month.

My current fear: That my convention won’t be a success. 

Moment of bravery: Emailed new galleries to request exhibitions.

Thinking about the importance of being excited by passion is important to me in the fight to reduce stress. I have always been a naturally stressed and anxious person, and over time and with a lot of trying, that has been reduced drastically. Yet there are still times, in the quiet of the night, when all of that comes back. I start to wonder if I did everything I was supposed to do. I wonder who is upset with me for not being good enough. I wonder if I’ve done enough to not just get by, but to excel.

And these are the thoughts that mess with your head and make you believe you are less. These are the thoughts that need to be stopped. And so I realized that something, an unknown “thing” was building up stress and making me a little bit crazy. It wasn’t one thing but a culmination of things. And so I decided to fix it.

1. The first thing that happened was that I felt too much pressure to create something dfferent – more opulent and extreme – in a photograph. So instead of pleasing the pressure I did something just for myself. The simplest photograph I could think of. All in the name of happiness. And you know what? I love it. Not for it’s photographic properties but because it is mine, from my heart, and I can feel good about that.

2. I started making lists before I go to sleep. I write down everything that I want to accomplish the next day, and I get really specific. I focus on not just what to do, but how I will achieve all of my goals so that I don’t overreach and disappoint myself. If I am going to submit to galleries, I have a list of locations I will look. I make one of my goals to update my CV, another to draft an email, and a third to update my website. That way when I do submit, I know that all of the necessary steps have been taken. I am also far less overwhelmed because the job has been broken down into manageable tasks.

3. I started making sure I had something to look forward to. Most mornings now I wake up and have a smoothie. Sounds boring, right? But it isn’t! Here is what I do to make this work for me…

I look up a recipe the day before and get the ingredients that I need. Before I go to sleep I prep them, meaning that I chop up all the fruit or veg and put it in a container with the right proportion, so that in the morning I simply have to blend. It doesn’t require stress or even much thought. It is nice, relaxing, and fun. If you can plan to do something for your morning that doesn’t require frustration, you’re more likely to enjoy it.

By drinking a smoothie I am having a brand new experience while also promoting health and having something to look forward to.

So tell me…How will you focus on your passion this week? How will you reduce stress? Will you write a list before bed (and get specific!)? Will you think up something fun you can do in the mornings to get yourself going?

The world owes you nothing.
You owe yourself everything.

If ever I begin feeling sorry for myself because of how unfair life can be, I remind myself of how untrue that is. Life can be harsh, but the way we handle those situations can light our life for years to come. We have truly unlimited power to give ourselves the nourishment we need to move forward, dream big, and succeed at living a beautiful life.

In times of clarity I realize that, if we boil our experiences down to the basics, the lives we live are nothing more than giving ourselves power, or taking that power away. And what I have found, time and time again, is that if we are not empowering ourselves, it is rare that someone will do it for us; or if someone does, it rarely sustains us. We are in charge of managing that immense responsibility for ourselves.

Lift yourself up and see a future made of dreams rather than a past filled with failures. This is the only way forward; all else requires stagnation.

What do you owe yourself that you have been holding back?

Beauty, power, creativity, freedom, love, expression?

Maybe you’re no good at your craft. Maybe you aren’t as creative as you think you are. Maybe you have no talent. Maybe you’re doing all this work for nothing. Maybe your business will never grow. Maybe your future will be filled with failures.

Or maybe you are good at your craft. Maybe you are creative. Maybe you do have talent. Maybe all your work will pay off. Maybe your business will grow exponentially. Maybe you will find many successes. Maybe you will see failures as opportunities.

Never spend time worrying about what might happen when you can control the decisions you make. Never spend time thinking about negatives as though they are facts. Every experience is waiting for you to choose a side: good or bad. Will you turn your experiences into something inspirational, or not?

You are as powerful as you believe yourself to be, for all of your collective memories, experiences, and dreams are in your hands and yours alone. Do with them what you will, but remember how precious they are. They belong to you only, so treat them with respect and reverence.

Create and dream and live with power. Do so with passion and love. Treat yourself with respect and all of your experiences will be more meaningful. Life is a rich series of events. Do not follow them along or chase them in circles, but build them with your own two hands and believe you can make a life worth living for yourself.

Too often we live our lives in fear of the future because of the maybe that everything will fall apart. But, just maybe you will live the life of your dreams. And if we do away with the maybe entirely and recite an I will,  that is far more likely to happen.

I will live my dreams.

Sincerely,
Passionate