Feel the fear
Hello everyone,
I'm not sure where May went, but we are speeding through the year and getting closer to when we move to Cornwall in September.
Over the last month I have been taking in inspiration from other sources, I had a fabulous week in Shetland with Rachel Hazel, the Travelling Bookbinder which was followed by another week away in Tuscany with Monica Dengo. Both workshops moved me out of my comfort zone and into uncomfortable feelings of not being good enough, or embarrassed about my offering creatively.
Why did I put myself through if I knew I was going to struggle? Well that is exactly why I put myself through the creative wringer.
As creatives we have to keep pushing our boundaries, breaking new ground, trying and failing, standing up and starting again, and then failing some more. Being afraid is not an option for those who are afflicted with a need to be creative.
Always pushing yourself leaves you wide open to criticism as you flounder like a toddler learning to swim. I use the idea of learning to swim deliberately. When you first encounter deep water it is scary, so much can go wrong, you are not in control, but gradually thrashing around becomes a doggy paddle, which evolves into breast stroke, then you learn to breathe as you swim which becomes front crawl, and in a short time you have overcome the fear, swallowed a lot of water on the way but now you glide through the water.
The same is true of anything creative, if you always stay in your depth you never discover the joy of splashing around. Not being fully in control when we create is when amazing things happen, when we release the brakes and just roll into the future to see what happens.
I actually spent a whole day beating myself on one of the workshops because I told myself I wasn't good enough, but when I let myself fall into the process of trying the untried I found something within the nerves, anxiety and self criticism that I was genuinely excited about.
I have been looking for a while at the various directions, I am excited and nervous about which one I will eventually take but the experimenting is really fun.
When I worked in news photography there is a formula to getting the basics always right, which means largely you always get your work published, but learning that it is ok to break the formula is one of the key lessons.
Nothing is ever achieved by staying in the green zone, truth be told my green zone grows every time I try and fail at something new.
I want people to be excited by their growth, not put off by the mistakes - let's call mistakes opportunities for learning.
The day I wake up and think I have learned everything I need to know please shoot me because my life will have reached the pinnacle of boredom.
We present ourselves with learning opportunities everyday, but often we berate ourselves for being gifted the chance to learn from something that doesn't quite go to plan.
How different does it feel to say "Wow I just learned......." as opposed to " I am so stupid this didn't work because I am rubbish"
None of us are rubbish, we all have talent, creativity and are all imperfect, so let's stop beating ourselves up when things go pear-shaped - I quite like pears!
Somethings on the near horizon
I am about to launch a few new workshops they will be on the website very soon but if you are interested please let me know and I will give you first refusal on the places.
Cornwall
November 4th - 8th 2024 at Boconnoc full board £2500 per person
Lake Garda
January 20-25 2025 staying in Verona with me and Italian fine art photographer Mattia Zaldini cost £2300 per person
Uig Sands
Isle of Lewis March 9-14th 2024 Staying at Uig Lodge, fon a full board basis at one of the most beautiful beaches in the area £2500
Isle of Iona
March 24th - 30th 2025 Full Board. Join me at the cradle of Christianity for a true escape from the noise and speed of life. From £1900
email me if you are interested in any of the above
Also next month I will be announcing a special series of three online workshops called The Sunday Sessions which be one hour in length exploring how we make more of our photography - they will be on a Sunday (bet you hadn't guessed that!) at 1900 BST for one hour, each session will be recorded and emailed to participants so they can follow on at home.
Thank you so much for your time.
Best wishes
Paul
