I started running when I was 14 with my Dad and my sister. It was only a few years ago, some 35 years later, that I finally outran my Dad. He did have several years of running before I joined him, so I had to catch up, so to speak. But, that’s not the point of this edition of Two Mann, Two Sense.
My Dad has a rule about running: The definition of a good run is any run that you did. It doesn’t matter if it was fast, slow if you had to walk up the hills if you hated the entire thing if you got a stitch. And, it certainly doesn’t matter how good you look while running. My Dad has a particularly spastic running gait, which I may have inherited. If you got out the door and went for a run it was a good run. His only measure of quality is whether or not you did the run.
Here is how going for a run usually plays out:
- 45 minutes of thinking about the run, imagining how beautiful it will be. Imagining how good it will feel.
- 20 minutes deciding which layers to wear. Trying them all on, making sure they don’t rub you in the wrong way.
- 30 more minutes planning out the exact route.
- 35-60 minutes for the actual run. Chances are that if you haven’t been running in a while it will suck. It won’t live up to the expectation you had/felt during the 45 minutes you thought about the run. But, sometimes it will surpass them.
My Dad’s rule works for creative pursuits, too. Here’s the truth about my Dad’s rule: The only thing that will improve your running is actually running.
The same goes for photography. You can think about photography all the time. You can plan our future projects. You can read ALL the books. You can attend all the workshops. You can watch allllllll of the tutorials.
But the only thing that’s going to improve your actual photography is photographing. The only thing that’s going to improve your editing is editing. The only thing that’s going to improve your posing is actually posing. The only thing that’s going to improve your composition is composing. And, you guessed it, the only thing that’s going to improve your lighting is lighting shit up!
Sometimes it will feel amazing. The sun shining on your face, the breeze through your hair. And, other times it will feel like work. You will get a stitch and you will be sucking wind. But, you got out of the door and did it. That is all that truly matters.
Love, Erika
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