My Superpower.

Today, I’m going to be talking myself up! Because that’s what I need, and maybe you need to hear it too.

People always ask, if you could have a superpower, what would it be?
My question for you is, what is your superpower, that you already have?

Mine is the ability to work. Without praise, without people, without seeing results. My ability to work is unsurpassed. And though many people say that, I have experienced it in the two things in life I am most passionate about. Photography, and soccer.

Let’s start at soccer. I was 14, had played a season or two of soccer growing up. When I was 7-8 I think, but wasn’t good by any means. Hadn’t touched a ball in years. But in high school, I decided I wanted to play. I went and tried out, and I had some older friends on the team. They laughed! Not in a bad way, playfully. But I was so bad. Probably the worst player.

That season, after practice, I would go home and practice for 2-3 hours every day. Every single day. From freshman until basically junior year. I was practicing, signing up for teams on my own, and practicing by myself a lot. But I would get a lot of the kids in the area to come out sometimes.

Fast forward to me being good, everyone only remembers me being good. Nobody remembers me being the worst kid at freshman try outs. So there’s this thing where people just think I’m good at stuff. And the truth is, I have to put in so much effort just to reach a certain level. And to go beyond it? I put in inhuman effort.

Now let’s talk about photography. Another thing I didn’t get into until later in life. When I was 28, on my 28th birthday I went out. I woke up the next day and I knew I wanted to be a photographer. I had read “A Road To Seeing” By Dan Winters, and had taken a few pictures with my older sister’s camera. But in that moment, I knew that was my calling somehow. And after that, I never looked back.

The following year, I took over 10,000 images. On an iPhone 8. I imported all of them to my computer, sat in lightroom for thousands of hours, and honed my skills until I could afford my first camera. (The one I still use to this day.) First year with the camera? 15,000 images. The following year? 20,000 images. Ever since I got my camera I average at least 10,000 images, if not more a year. An inhuman amount.

The work is my super power. And I’ve done a lot of it.

But like every super hero, I have a weakness. My weakness is that I lack education. Education on how to communicate properly. How to position myself. How to present myself in the business world. And maybe I have rudimentary skills in these areas. But if I was better, my life would be different. No mentors for me. Like a lot of my life, I have to rely on myself.

So in the coming months, years, and decades, I will use my super power to learn how to overcome my weaknesses. And I will make a life from photography. I will contribute positively to the lives of the people I photograph, and one day, I hope to inspire the next generation of people who would be artists. I love this artform so much and making a life from it is hard. But just because it is hard, doesn’t mean I can’t do it.

God told me it would take me longer than I think. And I know if I continue to walk on the path before me, stop making bad decisions, and continue straight that I will make it. I know I’m great. Even if no one else does yet.

Stay warm.
DC

p.s. Let’s go Hawks! Love to see the happiness the Superbowl victory brought to the city.