This morning I received a wonderful email from a photographer thanking me for something I wrote. In it he mentioned how he had been struggling mentally with The Big Question: should I keep at this or bag it?
His timing couldn’t have been better as I had been struggling a bit myself lately. Between school and trying to keep up with the industry not to mention any personal life and, well, I had been a bit melancholy. Not that I was about to quit or anything, but the work has not been easy lately.
But his thanks reminded me of why I’m going through all this–because I want to help creatives and get no greater satisfaction than when someone says “thanks.” I’m totally revitalized now and excited about my long day of classes today. Yea!
Enough about me, though, and back to The Big Question. We all face it. Everyone, from CEOs to stars to the parent trying to get her/his kid to do homework (etc.), hits that wall. It’s normal to question “why am I putting myself through this hell?!” especially when things are tough.
And for many people, they are mighty tough these days.
But don’t let that wall stop you. Don’t let the wall win. Look inside and see if you still love something about what it is you are trying to do–my guess is that there is still that passion there. Just like the frazzled mom/dad who feels like throttling the kids while they misbehave in public, or the photographer who gets another “offer” to shoot a job for practically nothing–at that moment it is hard to remember the love that brought you to this place in your life.
Take a moment and find it again. When you do, that wall won’t seem so impossibly high anymore. It’s still something you have to get past, and that will require work, but now, I bet, you’ll find your way to finding a way over, under, around, or even through it (as Judy Herrmann says so well).
Hi Leslie,
Well firstly, what you do is really appreciated by many. I hope that would always help you through these times!
I struggle with this alot, I think all artists do. I always find it passes though and sometimes it’s as simple as watching a movie to take you out of that negative zone. It’s just about distancing your self from things for a while.
I think you truly know when it’s time to give up. So it’s just a case of finding strength in patience.
Again, thakns for all your efforts Leslie.
I’ve just come back from 3 weeks holiday/shooting in Japan and was feeling refreshed and eager to get back to work when in my email inbox there was two WONDERFUL offers. One from a government department offering me the fantastic sum of $1000 (including tax) for the opportunity to give them 65 of my images for a royalty free, neverending license in every known universe!
The other was an offer to provide a link to my blog when they (a tour company) used one of my photos on their new website to promote their business!
I could see that wall right in front of my face but in the end just had to laugh, fire off a short curt reply and hit that delete button. And go and look at the images I’d taken in Japan and remember why I do what I do. Because I love it.
Leslie your articles are always appreciated by people all over the world – I’m in Cairns, far northern Australia. So when you start hitting that wall, just laugh and look at some nice pictures. 🙂
I’ve found that the surest cure to the “bag it” blues is to open myself up to new things and new experiences. Take, for example, my day job/business. I work in Web development. Which means that I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer.
But that’s my work time. During the evening and weekend hours, I’m as far away from computers as I can get.
So, don’t let those blues get you down. Diversify your life!
I used to be a therapist and often hit the “why do I put myself through this hell” wall. I still do as my husband and I run our own photo business. I have a routine of sorts to get myself out of that state. It usually includes talking to friends/family that pump me up. I also go work-out (climbing or running for me). And, then I look to my dreams and see why I started it all (I have it written down for these moments). Almost always helps.
Funny, though, because as I opened up my email I was starting down one of the paths that end in a large and ugly wall. But, this post has already helped me see there’s a way out before I’m scraping at the bottom of the wall.
Thanks, Leslie for consistently good posts and advice!
Nice words Leslie.
“Every wall is a door.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
PS. Judy definitely says it well. A great person on top of being a great photographer. Had a blast with her and other fellow ASMP leaders last weekend in Detroit for the BLC.
I spent 7 years when i was in my 20’s in a small very elite unit in the Marine Corp Called Force Recon. Every single day was hard, brutal and unforgiving. Whiners, Wimps and Wan To Be’s were never tolerated. The byproduct of the training and the attitude of your final team was nothing short of amazing. Impossible is nothing and “Quitting is not an Option”!
As I used to tell the men that would try and get into the unit, “Nothing about this unit is easy, thats why we are Fore Recon Marines”. So quit now and avoid the rush! For those small select that gave everything they had and were selected into the unit it was a day the held deep inside, for so many had quit and so many didn’t make it.
Nothing about being a Photographer is easy, every day is hard in some way. But then again we get to call ourselves Photographers.
“Quitting is not an Option”