You know, I spend a lot of time on the internet looking at beautiful things, buying beautiful things, and pining after beautiful things. I spend a lot of time admiring other people's work, wishing I could produce such emotive writing; wishing I could take a photo that was worthy of enlarging into a poster-sized, frameable piece of art to be hung over my bed; wishing I could get an article published in this or that magazine.
Then, the other day, I was doing my usual pining after someone else's work (in this case, it was a photograph of the beach) when I thought, 'Hey, wait a minute. I just came back from the beach. I took some nice photos at the beach. Hang on, let me - yep, they're more than nice, they're actually really good.' So, I ordered a poster-sized print to frame and put over my bed. I plan to lie there, looking up every morning, and think: 'That's my own damn photograph hanging over my own damn bed.' Yup.
Because why? Because I'm good enough. Because I'm capable of creating something that even I would pay money for.
This was a revelation.
Why did it take me so long to figure out?
It was always:
I want to start a business, but ... I don't have enough experience. I don't know what I'm doing.
I want to pitch an article to this magazine, but ... they probably get thousands of submissions every day. My writing isn't good enough. It's not precise enough, not witty enough.
I want to frame some of my photos, but ... they were edited in VSCOCam, not Photoshop, which is still sitting unopened on my counter at home.
And then I see someone do ALL these things and the results are half of what I could have achieved. And I'm all, "Oh my gosh, I could have done a much better job!" The difference? They had a shit-ton of self-belief and the audacity to just do it. And for them, it wasn't a matter of "could have done", it was a matter of "just did". That self-belief goes a long way. It goes a long way in convincing other people (people like me) that you can do it - despite all those "buts" above.
After that, I gave myself permission to believe in myself. Because if I don't do it, who will?
So, here it goes: I am an excellent writer. I am a fantastic photographer. I have a great eye for interior design. I am a talented musician. I am a "creative" (thank you, thank you, thank you, Rebecca Pitts for believing in me enough to refer to me as one in this article).
Now, your turn.
