On Getting Discouraged

I don't have the answers.

Dear Reader,

I’ve had a tough couple of weeks. This is what has been going on.

I had planned to go away for almost two weeks this summer. My friend and I were going to hike a 10-12 day trail along The Sunshine Coast. This type of vacation was a great option for me, as the trip was going to be fairly inexpensive (the kind of trip I need right now), and it would have meant a solid stretch of time in nature (which I also desperately need).

Then at the end of June I was hired by a Scottish publication to photograph two people who are part of my personal photography project about the overdose crisis. I started this project a couple of years ago and part of it was published in Time Magazine, but I ended up running out of grant funding and experiencing a severe case of burnout which took me away from it for a long time. I took a step back in an attempt to heal my burnout, deal with a serious health diagnosis, and spend time applying for grants. In this post you can read a bit about the photos I’ve done already, versus the photos I’d like to create.

Up until the Scottish publication hired me I hadn’t felt like I had the capacity to get back to it, but the time I spent on this assignment re-ignited my passion for the project and I found myself feeling inspired to do the work again, and my capacity for it opened up.