This post is going to be long. Sorry. I have included a very condensed, short and sweet, version at the end!
I started and finished a book by Steven Pressfield entitled the Art of War in which this idea of Resistance (the enemy of creativity) is brought to the surface. Pressfield divides his book into three sections. The first showing the reader what Resistance is and how it can work. The second, entitled “Turning Pro” delves into what it means to be a professional rather than an amateur: preparation, order, patience, endurance, and facing fear and failure. Lastly, the third section focuses on inspiration, and specifically where it may come from.
“…Resistance defeats us. If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with the junk food, cosmetic surgery, and infotainment businesses, not to mention pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage, and dandruff.
Look in your own heart. Unless I’m crazy, right now a still small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you. And unless I’m crazy you’re no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or will be tomorrow. You think Resistance isn’t real? Resistance will bury you.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.”
Upon graduation, it can be difficult to face your fears and make the steps necessary to doing what you feel you are supposed to do. It’s funny because you know what you want to do and what you need to do, its just so hard for some reason to make that first step… That fear can hold you back…
“Fear of the consequences of following our heart. Fear of bankruptcy, fear of poverty, fear of insolvency. Fear of groveling when we try to make it on our own, and of groveling when we give up and come crawling back to where we started. Fear of being selfish, of being rotten wives or disloyal husbands; fear of failing to support our families, of sacrificing their dreams for ours. Fear of betraying our race, our ‘hood, our homies. Fear of failure…
Fear That We Will Succeed.”
But that fear is not all bad…
“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.
Remember one rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
“Have you ever watched Inside the Actors Studio? The host, James Lipton, invariably asks his guests, “What factors make you decide to take a particular role?” The actor always answers: ‘Because I’m afraid of it.’”
Pick any of the (applicable) fears in that list mentioned above, and I’ve probably felt it, as I’m sure many of you have. I got married, moved into a new home with my new bride, finished classes, prepared a final portfolio, graduated from photo school which took years of work, blood, and sweat to achieve, and my wife and I decided we would no longer be a slave to our debt and have begun the process of becoming free of it… And we’re trying to plan a move across the country to Southern California within the next year. So now what? Now I am face-to-face with my fears. A local photographer, Zack Arias, whom I look up to gave me this piece of advice upon finishing school: “I know how hard those 2 years at GTC have been. Now you have to go make a new book. Your book.” Now this isn’t something he has not said before, and certainly nothing new in terms of advice, but now it really is that time to make MY book.
So what does this mean for me? I am not completely sure of all of it. But I do know that I must take that first step, and the sooner I do that, the easier it will be to overcome Resistance. During a photo business class, I was asked about my plan for the next five years. I have been able to learn a LOT of valuable information through working with 35 Atlanta shooting weddings and I have worked about 12 over this past year! I would like to market myself to pick up a few portrait/editorial assignments, as well as doing regular personal projects.. And the next biggest steps for me will be learning, working, and assisting. Following the advice of some of my peers and artists who have made the necessary steps and are on the way to where they want to go, I think I want to put some focus on assisting as well working my own assignments. I want to learn more of my craft, and I want to do it in the real world. I am very grateful for my schooling, but I would be a fool to think I have learned all there is to learn. So maybe the process begins of contacting everybody and anybody that can give me a shot. Maybe for a one-time deal, an odd job here or there, or full-time… I’m happy with all of it.
In short, it’s not easy to start a new career, working your way from the ground up. It will be challenging, and I will want to give up… Sometimes I’ve wanted to give up before I even get started. I will not let this overcome me, I am a professional photographer and everyone will see it. The book by Steven Pressfield entitled “The War of Art” shows who my worst enemy is, and my worst enemy is within myself.
