i am failing to succeed

I am an artist. A photographer. A creator. An explorer. I am an eternally evolving, endlessly growing soul attempting to sort it all out. Sometimes I fight it. Sometimes I roll with it. I am constantly amazed at the twists and turns my journey has taken, which makes me wonder why I put up such a fight along the way. It's taken me years of looking at what I wasn't, to be able to own today what I am.

If I'd told you I was a traveller, I'd have also told you that I'd never been to South America and hadn't been to a new country in years. If I'd told you I was a photographer, I'd have also told you that I got a C in Photo 101 shooting only on auto for years. If I told you I was an artist, I'd have pointed out my terrible my drawing skills and how I could barely nail down photorealism in art school. And if you'd asked me five years ago who I was, I would have lined up a row of excuses for my less than stellar station in life. Funny that. Because deep, down, I desperately wanted to succeed. But in this fruitless quest, all I achieved was emphasizing my failures and denigrating my accomplishments. After all, I didn't have a huge salary behind me, only list of experiences that didn't count for much on a resume.

Owning ourselves isn't easy, but by embracing our journey and having the courage to step into the unknown in a celebration of all life has to offer, both failures and successes, well, that's when the magic happens. Besides, who defines failure anyway? Society? Your family? Your boss? Believe me, they're too busy with their own issues to worry about...or they should be.

So I am constantly changing, constantly failing and constantly growing so that I can constantly succeed. For reals. No more excuses. No more apologies. No more self-recrimination. And I'll tell you a little secret that I've figured out on my own: you are too. You are a magnificent creator on an incredible journey with twists and turns of fate that couldn't be scripted. And hopefully, like me, when you look at your failures now, what you're really seeing is just one more thing that you've tried out but didn't really enjoy. It will push you forward to the next big thing. I promise. When I saw Cherish Bryck's self-portrait below, staring straight into the camera with nothing to hide,  I thought to myself, yep, she gets it, she's owning her life too.

Holly ~ Soupatraveler

108/365 by Cherish Bryck Photography