I have struggled to keep shooting. For a myriad of reasons, my inner critic is particularly ruthless with any visual artistic work. So, with every design, illustration and photo comes abuse; no human has ever been as cruel to me as my inner critic. The difference between what I intend to capture vs what actually turns out is vast, and I am continually disgusted with myself. My inner critic uses lots of phrases that start with “I should…”.

I have grace with myself in writing. I know I am still learning, and I accept my poor editing abilities. I have grace with myself in playing guitar. When I make a mess of a tune my first thought is what steps I will take to improve, rather than “I should be able to play this.” That self talk with “I should”, it’s not useful. Who cares what should be? What “is” is all that matters.

I’m working to shush my inner critic. As part of that I decided to walk around my block and shoot. Sure, while taking and editing these pictures I was shouting down my inner critic with, “RESPECT THE JOURNEY!!!!”, more often than not. Here’s the results.