What’s holding you down and back?
There are very few people, that I personally know and love, who enjoy dealing with conflict.
Duh.
To be frank, most of us, so it seems, by both nature and nurture, are conflict-averse.
We all tend to choke and suffocate conflict, in our lives, thinking that, it will magically and mysteriously just go away if we don’t stare it down. Poof.
But, sadly, it never works like this. Ever.
Ignore conflict and it will eventually bite you in the ass, even paralyze you.
The only honest way to deal with conflict is to go through it, not around it.
You know this. I know this. We know this.
When you avoid conflict, big and small, those unresolved issues and dilemmas,
become the single, biggest detriment to emotional, spiritual, and mental health.
For when conflict is left alone, it quietly grows, slowly and surely, in the background, until it overtakes and asphyxiates our joy and happiness.
Don’t let that happen.
If you have a conflict-averse personality, and many are prone to this, I’m guessing that you’re, possibly, not a particularly very accomplished or skilled photographer?
Why would I say such a thing? Simple.
This is because photography, even in the best of times, and over above the fun stuff, is a tireless, and often endless, figuring out of mechanical and technical challenges, conflicts, friction points, and discord. Photography, at its core, is all about facing conflict and rising above its challenges, to end up with remarkable and memorable imagery.
Whether it’s life or photography, don’t pretend, privately or publicly, like conflict, isn’t a hard-and-cold reality, at every turn you make.
It is. You know it is.
My take on all this is a practical one.
Life will never be conflict-free. So your goal is not to try to eliminate the conflict, just manage it to and with acceptable levels of energy and honesty.
That means, in simple terms, dealing with your shit, rather than running from it.
At the very least, become conflict-converse rather than conflict-averse.
Having a conversation with conflict…is a good start. Do it. Today. Now. Make a list. What are you avoiding that is zapping you of strength, focus, joy, and mission?
The demons, dragons, and devils of your inner mind, aren’t really so scary, once you begin to not give them power and control over your natural aversions.
Photography, in this universe, is better too.
Click
Jack
