Two paths
Path A: Let it be. Enjoy the moment. You are enough.
Path B: Pursue your potential. Grow. Become the best you.
I’ve long tried to reconcile these two approaches. To stay grounded—or to strive for growth? To be content—or to take control?
They seem like competing ways to go through life. Yet the more I’ve lived (and felt), the more I’ve found these mindsets far from mutually exclusive.
The more I’m at peace to be, the more grounding I have to grow beyond my comfort zone.
The more I grow, the more perspective I gain to savour life as it is and appreciate people as they are.
I’ve found a balance that photography helps me refine and return to. So I wanted to crystalise my thoughts and share them with you here.
On becoming
Through school and study, becoming was the clear and default path. Work hard, apply yourself and build a bright future.
The unofficial tagline of my millennial generation? You can be anything you want to be.
This mindset fueled my growth as a photographer. It sparked me to learn astrophotography and to try my hand at portraits. It spurred me to travel widely and hike for hours before the rising sun.
Beyond propelling my creative expression, it continues to push my personal and professional development. There’s deep value in setting ambitious (yet achievable) goals and nurturing a growth mindset.
It fuels my health and fitness pursuits. To eat more consciously. To build daily exercise routines that now feel like defaults, not drudgery.
It fuels me to say yes to opportunities I would have once declined for fear of failure. To be more confident (and kinder) as I move through the world.
It fuels me to read broadly. To seek deep conversations. To sit with uncomfortable or conflicting ideas. To gain a richer understanding of life around me.
But as I wrote earlier this year, be mindful of unchecked tenacity:
Ambition can become crippling if it’s not alloyed with an equal measure of compassion towards our human fallibilities and accepting factors beyond our control.
The antidote to crippling ambition?
Run your own race. Choose compassion over comparison and competition.
On being
The more I grew, the more I became content to be. (I tend to avoid paradoxes in my writing. But this one feels appropriate here.)
As I lived and read more deeply, so much wisdom—from modern psychology to zen philosophy—returned to two central concepts time and again: acceptance and presence.
Let it be. Be here now.
Greet misfortune—both past and present—with grace. Equally, notice and revel in the everyday moments we might overlook or take for granted.
Say you’re out walking and a rainshower leaves you soaked head to toe. (Through my photography escapades, it’s an experience I’m quite familiar with.)
On the surface, it’s an unfortunate event out of our control. But how we respond is.
Some people might sulk or complain that bad things always happen to them. Others might run for cover to find shelter. (Also a wise choice. No quarrels there.)
Out on an early walk through my hometown last week, it happened to me. I could see the clouds brewing. And when the rain fell, I simply continued on my way listening to Bono’s dulcet tones.
Before long, the sun broke through. Every drop seemed to glisten and shimmer in the low morning light. A rainbow glowed over my grandmother’s house. (On this point, your results may vary.) And then I returned home to relish the most blissful bone-warming shower.
Granted, this is a vivid example. But it illustrates the point.
When it comes to photography, being present is precisely what I touched on when I explored creativity in landscape photography. To practise the art of attention and accept each environment as it is. To gather the seeds of inspiration and then wander playfully down that path of discovery.
This state of being, I’ve found, is far from a passive one. Often it’s one of hyper-awareness.
When we stop looking to control or optimise, we can feel the deepest of joys in the most mundane of moments. And when unpleasant emotions and experiences do arise?
Notice them. Act on them if you need to. Talk through concerns with those you care about. But don’t dwell on them for longer than necessary. Don’t bring those burdens with you. Put them down. Let them be.
the PATH BETWEEN
Pursuing relentless growth will blind you to the moments that are.
Yet resting in complacency will limit and narrow your potential.
The solution to the paradox? Realising it’s not a binary choice. There’s a middle path that embraces acceptance and agency.
Navigating the space between then becomes a duet, not a duel. (An eloquent frame used to describe the dynamic between Lennon and McCartney.)
Holding these two concepts in tandem may feel uncomfortable as you try to reconcile them. (Yet often, the deepest of truths challenge us in the best way. We can sense the wisdom on offer. But first, we need to recalibrate our view of the world or ourselves.)
So which path am I on?
You’ll find me on the boundary between being and becoming. Perhaps I’ll see you there.