Practice Makes Better (But Definitely Not Perfect)

I’m not a good goal setter. Everyone who knows me or has heard me talk about this topic knows I struggle to keep and set goals. As a former perfectionist, goals can be triggering for me. When I set a goal, and don’t achieve it, I can find myself in a shame spiral that’s difficult for me to climb out of. But I’m working on it. I’m slowly (SLOWLY) learning that goals don’t have to be big, scary, self-imposed checklists. They can be fun, they can change, they can be adaptable…who knew?

This year my best friend and I decided to resurrect our NYC + KC project from 2009. You guys remember that, right? If not, here’s a quick rundown (or you can just read this post here): Two friends, miles apart, post one photo every day depicting their lives. This time around we are doing the project on Instagram, and you can watch it all unfold at @nycpluskc. It’s pretty fun.

One random, unexpected issue with NYC + KC, however, has been it’s affect on my own personal Instagram account (@crazy_bananas). I don’t want to double post the same images every day, so I’ve found myself getting out my DSLR camera more and more, trying to capture the beautiful simplicity of life these days, and then posting those images on my personal Instagram. The response has been sort of overwhelming and very supportive, and I’ve been really excited to take photos again. This is a big deal, friends. For the past year or so, my love of photography was overshadowed by massive creative block, and there were times I wondered if I should just give it all up. But I’m finding the joy in photography again, and what a gift it is! Here are a few images from the past week, and I hope to keep posting these on Instagram daily throughout the year. Simple. Joyful. Life.

Turns out sometimes, goals create themselves for you. But it’s your responsibility to hold on for the ride!