film fridays: a personal project where I put down my digital camera and share images created on film.
Every creative person occasionally goes through a “funk”. A time when they question their art and the direction it’s going. Most of the time you feel confident and certain you are headed down the right path. Other days you feel completely directionless. Well, I have been in a funk. I’d like to chalk it up to winter blues but it’s just a good ol’ fashioned funk about my work and life in general.
The best life advice I ever heard was from a little blue fish named Dory “Just Keep Swimming”, she says. (Yes, I just quoted Finding Nemo. ha!) It’s so profound in its simplicity. When life gets you down just keep pushing forward. The alternative is to sink. Life can leave you feeling completely crippled at times. But the moment you decide to throw you hands up and succumb to the dark side, you not only become stagnant and unhappy, you have failed to miss the point. Life is about struggle. Plain and simple. You can compare your situation to people who have more money than you, more famous than you, have more talent than you, more confidence than you and think that it’s so easy for them. But we all claw and scratch our way through life. Rich, poor, black, white, christian, atheist; no one gets a free pass from struggle. And no one ever gets to a point in their life and sighs with relief. “Ah, I made it. I can stop now”. If you are living and breathing you are struggling. It’s a fight to the finish.
So what’s the point to all this struggle? Which at times can feel like a sick joke being played on our poor discontented souls. The point to it is the growth you experience from struggle. Those “Ah Ha” and “YESSS!!” moments. Would that illumination and elation feel as wonderful if it had simply been handed to you? The answer is no. The fact that you just “kept swimming” during difficult times, that you pushed through negative thoughts of failure and anxiety, prevailing if only to fight another day, is what makes those moments so sweet. These are the moments we should live and die for. Life never gets any better, only your perception of it does.
As a way to “just keep swimming” I want to start regularly sharing my film work on the blog, which will not only be pretty to look at but will also hold me accountable to continue to push myself creatively. And hopefully achieve a few “ah ha” and “yesss” moments along the way. I find film so incredibly beautiful to look at. The images seem to take on a life of their own. Film is tough, though. And expensive. You can’t just “spray and pray” like you can with digital. You have to slow down. Think about the shot. And if you mess up, well that’s money you just wasted. But if you do it right, oh, the payoff is so much more rewarding. And why is that, you think? Could it be because it’s a.. struggle? Are you seeing a trend here? Sacrifice does not guarantee success, it’s merely a prerequisite of success. So here’s to Film Fridays and to personal growth!
Film Fridays starts with the cutest kids in America. My own!
Mamiya 645 Fuji400H
