Don't know about you, but this time of year makes me crazy. In the past, I would read countless art and photography blogs that practically SANG about what these incredibly talented people accomplished THIS year as well as all the things they plan to accomplish NEXT year. How many shows they participated in, how many pictures they uploaded to stock agencies, how many handmade art journals they produced, what new techniques they learned, etc., along with where they're going next year, what their plans are to perfect their technique of printing photographs onto faux fur, how many more shows they'll be participating in, and how taking ONE photo a day just isn't enough -- their goal now is to post TWO photos a day because, you know, ANYbody can take ONE decent photo a day...
So if you're feeling marginal about yourself, that maybe you're not doing enough in your life, that you should be doing more, more, more, reading these celebratory blogs will push you over the edge into a pit of self-doubt, guilt, and futility.
My solution this year: DO NOT READ THOSE BLOGS! If you're reading along and the person begins making lists, immediately stop, mark the blog as "read," and move on. We do NOT need this pressure. We do NOT need to compare ourselves to these perfect, multi-talented beings.
Life is short. Stop reading and fretting about what others are doing and walk your own path at your own pace.
Gotta go now to meet up with my tai chi/book club/tea drinking/boat refinishing group...
©Carol Leigh
P.S. Something else that's driving me crazy? Windows 8. On a new laptop. Where the copyright symbol used to be created by pressing ALT then typing 0169. No longer. NOW it's pressing the function key AND the ALT key and then typing 0169. I could have taken THREE decent photos in the time it took for me to research this ...
