Trust in ourself. It’s now or never.
:Julius Lester trusted himself in his art...and life.
Fear? Let it pass. it comes and goes yet if and when it remains it wears us down unnecessarily. We are OK right now and need to keep moving forward. Disagree?
I witness fear weekly in The Gallery's workshop participants and Gallery Exhibitors. Dealing with my own fears has developed sensitivities in me to help others take that next step in their photo careers and avocations. I recognize and deal with their fears.
"Feel the fear and do it any way." Why not? Our worst fears never come to fruition anyway. All those wasted nights...and days. Many believe we create what we fear. I subscribe to that belief.
A man I admired moved on ahead recently. I miss Julius Lester. I never met a man more confident and willing to do what needed to be done.
Julius wrote 43 books" because he had to". He played with photography "because he loved it." He worked hard at his photography at night.
Julius had a bad cases of ringing of the ears. He could not sleep at night. So he overcame this obstacle and processed his digital images from Midnite to 5 am. Then he slept.
This was a most lonely and difficult yet playful journey. I so admired his determination and play. Oh and play he did.
On MAR 4, I shared a talk at Julius' memorial service by invitation of Julius' family. An honor I will cherish forever. The family asked me for a copy to be held at the Jones Library, Amherst, MA. My full talk with images is Here for you.
Image: "Leaf Opening" © Julius Lester
About the Author: Robert Floyd is a naturalist, photojournalist, and photo gallery owner. You can usually find him, when he’s not in The Floyd Photo Gallery, leading field trips from late morning to early evening in the beautiful Pioneer Valley, Cape Cod, Cape May, Newport, Manhattan, and Canada. Follow him here and on FACEBOOK.