People ask me sometimes how long it took to develop my style, and I think the reason that question gets asked is because it is assumed the answer will be some sort of guideline. I think the question is wrong in the first place though. I find the length of time something took to be irrelevant, whether it be how long an image takes to edit, how long a shoot goes for, how long someone has been doing photography, or how long it took to develop a style. Length of time means nothing. Amount of fulfillment while doing those things is everything. Personal process is king.

Sometimes I feel it is appropriate to answer the question by saying it took no time at all. Or, maybe, that it has taken all the time in my life. I had a style before I picked up a camera. That doesn’t meant that my pictures looked how I wanted them to look. At the same time, they will never look how I want them to look…or if they do, for now, they inevitably will not later. The reason is because we are always growing and learning and achieving and failing. Failing, most importantly.

The length of time something takes is only important insofar as we can measure our life’s journey, and how content we were living it. The amount of time something takes is relevant if we make it so, and if we do not place emphasis on it, it no longer becomes something with which we measure ourselves against.

Never look into another person’s life and think that how they do something is the right way. Never watch someone else’s process and believe yours must be the same. Judge yourself based on your own timeline, or ignore it all together. Be present, be happy, and fulfill yourself.

On one hand I would tell you to lower your expectations, because expecting nothing of yourself means you are free to live how you want to live without being judged, by someone else or by yourself. On the other hand, I would tell you to set high expectations of yourself so that you are always reaching and growing and striving. Yet both are true. Desire. Grasp. Live. These are the goals we set for ourselves. Fail. Fall. Fly. This is how we walk the path to fulfillment.

Think not of time but instead of each moment as an opportunity. Do not worry about the future, or the past, or how you measure up against other people and the limitations they put on themselves. Think of your timeline as being forever in flux, moving with you and not ahead of you. You will go at your own pace. You will fail. You will succeed. And if you are willing, you will do it all in bliss.

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