I had been looking forward to going to the park with my husband and son and for a personal walk. Just as we were leaving, my husband suggested that we also take one of the dogs.
I instantly felt a shift in my mood.
My excitedness turned to DREAD.
I cherish my personal walking time. It’s time for me to think through stuff that’s on my mind. And I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do that if I was walking my dog.
He’s not a very good walker. He pulls. He is all over the place on the sidewalk. He stops and smells everything. I knew I would have to divert all of my brain space to working with him and away from my thinking time.
And so that’s how the walk started. Him all over the place and me annoyed.
After about 10 minutes of walking, I noticed something.
I was in my head, deep in thought.
And he was walking well and happily at my side.
All those fears and dread about how everything was going to go wrong didn’t come true.
They were just stories I had made up in my mind.
Nothing went wrong. In fact, I really enjoyed taking my dog for a walk! I loved seeing how happy he was to be experiencing something new. I felt safer with him at my side. I can’t wait to take him for more walks and teach him how to be a great walker.
HOW MANY STORIES LIKE THIS DO WE MAKE UP THAT ACTUALLY HOLD US BACK FROM EXPERIENCING SOMETHING REALLY GOOD IN OUR LIVES?
One example that, as a photographer, I see time and time again is that women don’t believe they are beautiful enough to be photographed and have portraits of just them. No partner. No children. Just them.
The fear is that because they’ve aged and have extra pounds or gray hair or wrinkles, that they won’t like what they see in any of their photos. That they’ll find out that all of the stories they’ve told themselves about how they look will actually be true.
And so just like I didn’t take my dog for a walk for many years because of the stories I had made up about the experience, many women don’t step in front of a camera for the same reasons.
However, just like I ended up LOVING the experience of taking my dog for a walk, ALL of the women who step in front of my camera LOVE their experience as well. They end up seeing that their age, weight, gray hairs and wrinkles don’t have any baring on how beautiful they are and how amazing they look in their portraits. They have FUN being pampered and being a model for a day! And many end up wanting the experience over and over again!
ARE YOU TELLING YOURSELF ANY STORIES ABOUT WHY YOU CAN’T EXIST BEAUTIFULLY IN PHOTOS?
I guarantee you, it’s only a story, it’s not the truth. They truth is if we open ourselves to new experiences, even experiences that we may initially dread, we can find great joy in them.
And if you’re ready for one of the best experiences of your life, one in which you will see how beautiful you are just as you are, I invite you to learn more about working with me at https://kariannemunstedt.com/photography/.