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Discovering Growth in Weakness
My Master sat across the table, puffing a cigar. Relaxed in every manner, as usual, he looked at me with his piercing yet warm eyes through the cigar smoke and asked:
- What are you good at?
After a few years, I was pretty good at photography. I was getting my first paid work, even got me my first cover. I was “good enough” to receive work at least, and, in a sense, I started even to become confident in my process. But as in any creative field — there is good, and then there is “masterfully” excellent. Getting a photography job is one thing. Being great in photography is absolutely another. And I was not even near “great.” I knew it but could not yet figure how to get there.
I kept pushing myself, first unconsciously but then consciously ending up running in a circle. I read books, watched every behind-the-scenes available on the internet, and read every interview with photographers I admired. In theory, “I knew,” in practice — I was still amateur.
I worked as a photographer, yet I felt like an “imposter.”
I needed a Master to help me on a path, and through some perseverance, I finally met One (which is a story for another story). In one of our conversations, I told him somewhat about my feelings hoping for a piece of advice, but…
