Hey Friend,
Have you ever heard of impostor syndrome? No. Well let me tell you a little bit about it. It's that little voice inside your head that says "hey you, are you crazy? Don't you see all the other bad ass artists out there who are so much better than you. Who do you think you are?"
Yeah. Impostor syndrome is mean.
But all I can do to push past it is believe in myself. I take risks. Sometimes I fail. But I learn so much from those failures.
Nearly seven years ago I took a leap of faith and started a business in a very saturated market. I juggled my job as a registered nurse, my role as a good wife, all with a toddler at my heels and a newborn in my lap. It was freakin hard. But guess what? I came up on top after falling down many, many times.
You can too. I know you can!
To push past imposture syndrome I put my head down and I do the work that I know is so important. I don't care if I am not the best artist in all the land. I don't care if my work isn't on trend. What I care about is my heart and the heart of my business which is to create meaningful and connected photography for all the families who trust me to capture them.
What we are doing as artists is important work. Just think about photographs that you have of your own childhood. They are absolutely priceless.
Photography matters.
So next time you feel like an impostor do me a favor and remember this. There is only one you. Only you can make the art that you do. Only you can see things the way you see them. What you are doing is important and meaningful. You have a unique and beautiful gift that needs to be shared with the world. If you didn't, you wouldn't even have the urge to make it.
So don't give up! You are not an impostor! We are in this together!!
I wrote a blog post about this a few months back. You may find it helpful. Click HERE to read it. ;)
Love,
Elena