Day 240: Try Try Again

How many times have you tried something and failed? How many times have you tried that same thing many times and failed over and over? If you're like most people, you have probably done this numerous times through your life, I know I have. It's a very human thing to happen, but it can lead to very interesting places.

If you are like most people, you have probably tried some particular thing a few times and failed each time. And you have probably given up after that first attempt, or maybe the second or third attempt. I have done that exact same thing. It is a very human and natural thing to do, no one wants to fail at doing something and so we often just leave it an continue on with our lives.

We try a lot of things in our life, some things truly are just not for us. But what if it comes to learning a skill? Or something in that vain? It can be very difficult to learn something new and try your hand at different things. This can lead to a few trials that don't work out so well and if we're not determined enough that can lead to failure.

When we try something and "fail", it's not really a failure, it's a lesson. A very important lesson that will only become a failure if we give up. Giving up is a failure and always will be. Taking a mishap, or a less than expected result, and transforming it into a lesson is and always will be a success. In order to really master something new or difficult, we have to try over and over and over. It is never an easy task.

There is one area in photography that I have struggled with for years. It is an area other photographers have great success in and some have built their careers out of. And yet no matter how many times I have attempted this technique, I have considered the results to be less than expected. Far less. This technique is as simple as doing a photoshoot against a blank wall.

I have attempted this kind of photoshoot many times, as you can see throughout this post. Each time, the results have been incredibly disappointing. Nothing like expected. And trust me, I have very close to giving up completely on ever trying to shoot such a concept. I knew in my heart I would need to tackle this obstacle, but I didn't really want to because of how disappointing the result have been.

But then it rain, and it's been raining for a week. I haven't had a chance to shoot outside and create something new, even though everything in me is itching to create. So my chance approached, it was time to attempt shooting against a blank wall again. Today, I closed myself into my bathroom (the only well lit, sort of blank wall I could find in my house with enough light streaming in from the overcast skies) and created.

I did so without any preconceived expectations, I even expected the image to fail, but I gave it my best shot. And that's all you can do. In situations where you have failed again and again, you have to approach it that one last time with your expectations set lower than lower and just give it your best shot. That will be the time it works. When you just go all in and try, that's when it will work. The image I'm working on isn't complete yet, but I can tell you it is working far better than any of the other blank wall images I've created. This is truly an opportunity to learn and grow, where can you find that in your own life?

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt