Comparison Kills

So what kind of a headline is that on the always so positive Divas and Dreams blog?

Well it´s a reminder my friend, a reminder that every time you compare yourself with another photographer, artist or blogger it can kill your creativity, your energy and bring down your self esteem - not always of course but sometimes (I guess you know the feeling).

If you are like me and most creative people in this world, you know of people you admire and see as better, more qualified than you or as a competition (same level as you).

Comparing your self to them do not encourage you (and me) to stretch our imagination and find alternate sources of inspiration.

Of course it´s great if they inspire you and make you glow with passion and ideas, but if you feel terrible and "not good enough" then don’t watch their work!

Go out and play and have fun instead, testing your own ideas, feel alive and creative.

When our "inner critic monster" wants to sabotage our passion and creativity by comparing itself to another, it distract us from our flow, owning our value and unique contribution.

Thoughts like these: “I suck… they are so much better. I am a total failure.” “Look at where they are…I should be ‘there, ‘doing this’ or ‘doing that’ and I am not good enough…I am a loser..” etc. etc. are like water on your inner (passion) fire, it simply kills creativity!

Photographers, especially women struggle with comparison. So let's cut to the chase and put it as simply as possible. Comparison kills the little positive seeds of inspiration growing inside of you!

Don´t use comparison to bring yourself down - you are to unique for that! In fact there are no one on earth like you, so comparison is not worth spending time on anyway...smile :-)

What really matters is that you dare to aim for the stars (go for all your crazy ideas and dreams) and aim from your heart (be sure to photograph what you truly LOVE) - nothing else matters!

Focus on being you and bring YOU into your pictures. If you look to much at others work, you will bring to much of their vision into your own work.

If you´re your authentic self, you have no competition. If you are unsure, looking over your shoulders to see what others do, you will have a lot of competition. Uhhh this is hard to take in right....

I recently got an email from a photog friend asking me; "How did you prepare yourself or thought of yourself as capable to doing photography when first starting out?"

I think the answer is; that I did not compare myself to anyone and I was not aware of any written or unwritten rules in the world of photography; I just played and had fun.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I never visit my photog friend’s pages. (I truly love to do this) I really appreciate the care that goes into each detail of their work and seeing their work can be an incredible motivator.

However, I’m very aware that if my WOW and OMG turns to frowns and comparison, it will kill my creativity. My goal is to enjoy what others create, cheer on other shutterbugs and strive for excellence in my own work by putting ME into it!

Boy I´m getting deep today...I hope this all makes sense...lol..

xoxo, Christina