This isn’t going to be a long post, but this is going to be a good one.

I’ve had a lot of people say wow dude your life looks so fun. Sure, I get to see a lot of cool things, I love this lifestyle. It comes only after a lot of effort, sweat, blood, and tears, but I get to see some cool shit.

Why don’t you get to see cool shit?

Not a redundant question. WHY are you holding yourself back? What are you waiting for?

The worldwide life expectancy is 71 years. That’s 621,960 hours. 621,960. THAT’S SO MANY HOURS. Why can you not take 168 of those, and go see something cool?

LIVE YOUR LIFE.

A few weeks ago, I got to skip school for a week and travel to sunny California. The time spent there was invaluable. I’ve spent the days since then till now, to try and find the words to describe it. I did some, but couldn’t find enough. I took these photos in hope I can bring the reality of the experience to you guys, but again it’s not enough. This blog post can never be enough to bring through, to you, the full of the experience I had this year at Field Trip. Which is totally fine, I only hope it brings through just a fraction. Because even that fraction, is absolutely amazing. I’ve learned so many valuable lessons, met the most outstanding humans, and did things I otherwise would never have done. Please take a look below at these photos, and understand they aren’t going to be cohesive and beautiful throughout, because each one represents an entirely individual beautiful fraction of a moment.  #yeahfieldtrip.

I have failed at everything except this.

I have taken the wrong track 9 times out of 10. I have miss-stepped and landed on so many land mines. I did terrible in school, never stayed in the same place too long. I’ve burnt bridges, and shattered friendships.

When there weren’t anymore tracks to take, and I had no where else to go, and nothing else to do wrong. That I found the one thing left, for me that was photography. In my mind it’s the only thing I’ve never completely destroyed. Not to say I don’t fail at it, in fact I fail often. It’s simply how I’ve learned to grow from those failures that make me consider my overall status a success. This is my only thing left, and I protect it, and then I invest myself in it more than anything else. It’s what I love the most, it’s my baby, it’s the only place I’ve been told I’m doing right, it’s more than just what I do as a job, it’s a life, and it’s one I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

A lot of people say photographers have it so easy, all we do is take a picture, right any one can do that. Well that’s true any one can. I can teach you to take a great photograph, well maybe, but I can’t teach you to be addicted to it. I can’t teach you to love it more than Nutella, I can only show why I am the way I am. I can only try and show the stress and feelings you get when you fail at the only thing you know how to do right. The amount of time and will power spent editing and ripping yourself a new one because it’s just not good enough. We are our own worst critics as they say, but we need to remember, that there are people out there that love and praise us just the way we are.

And there are people out there that love and praise you. And if today was a tough day, look at what you’ve accomplished, remember where you were 4 years ago, 2 years, last month, accept that you’ve grown and let it ignite a fire inside so that in 6 months that growth will be even bigger.

I know these lessons are easy to forget in times of stress. I forget them all the time, but the only thing you can hope to do is try to remember them a bit more each time.