"This whole thing terrifies me," Tina said during our first conversation. "But a piece of me wants to do this." Tina is kinda cool because she doesn't scare easy. She's spent the majority of her years in business negotiations where large sums and the jobs of others were on the line. She's used to holding her own in tense situations. And she sure doesn't back down from conflict.
So why is THIS scary? Why is the thought of being photographed something that makes people, even brave Tina, feel physically sick?
Tina and I spent a lot of time talking about her whys.
Why is being photographed terrifying? Why are you going to do it anyway?
Everyone has their reasons why they don't like being photographed, why they turn tail and run the other direction. We should feel some level of comradery by realizing most of us fear the same thing . . . we're all fighting similar monsters.
-I'm not at the weight I want to be
-I'm older
-I've never seen myself as beautiful
-I have nothing to wear
-I don't know how to move
-My nose is too big
-I have bad acne
-I just had a baby
-I'm ordinary
While the reasons why something is scary are always valid and I want to know what they are, I'm far more fascinated about why you're going to be brave and do this anyway.
Tina told me she was starting a new chapter in her life, her business. Her very own business run and owned and operated by just her, her grit, and knowledge. It was time to take a step forward into her new phase of life and it was time she did something special just. for. her. Tina had never seen herself as beautiful, not really. Not the way she wanted to . . . and something in her felt that now was the time for that.
I love when my people have desires and goals. They see themselves out in the distance doing great things, feeling ways they have never felt, and living a new, enriched life. But between those desires and where they are now, where you are, is a whole lot of work and scary new things that are going to make you do things you've never done.
That's the price, right? That's what we pay to have a new life, new experiences, and new joys. We come face to face with the things that terrify us and we walk forward anyway. Maybe we shed a few tears. Maybe we call a few friends. Maybe we shake in our boots.
But we move forward and in doing that a beautiful thing happens- we transform into more than we were. We become braver and we see more clearly the person we really are.
That's what Tina did. She took on brave new things . . . many actually. And when she did that, when she saw who she had worked so hard to become, she saw this beautiful side of herself that she'd never seen before. And if she hadn't been brave, she wouldn't have met that beautiful woman.
So be brave, my friends. Do new things. Say yes even when it terrifies you . . .
cause maybe, on the other side of that fear, is the person you always wanted to be.
Love, Melinda
Photography Studio in Athens PA.
Serving Athens Pennsylvania, Towanda Pennsylvania, Corning New York, and Twin Tiers area.
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