No Barren Land

There are some pretty sweet happenings in my hometown of Joplin, MO here lately. 

My friend Jordan Murdock had a lightbulb moment and proposed our artistic community collaborate on a show to benefit Syrian refugee aid. The result was 'No Barren Land', an event coordinated by Jordan and hosted out of the RSVPaint space here in downtown Joplin. 

Josh paints while Eine Blume performs

There was live music and poetry readings, a legit coffee bar from the folks at Onyx coffee lab, live painting by Josh Schwartz, and, art on display with purpose and heart. 

My sister's addition to the show- love this piece

I hadn't had a chance in some time to create my own original work- I've been in that ironic state of being too busy creating for others, to be able to create for myself. So this show seemed to offer the perfect opportunity, not only to put my money where my mouth is and actually contribute to the local art culture, but also to put my 'fine art photographer' hat back on. I just needed one great shot... 

OH SWEET MOTHER OF MOSES WAS THAT HARD!!

And for real, I'm not kidding, it was incredibly difficult for me. Not because I didn't have an idea... an image popped into my head pretty quickly and I knew it was the right one. No, it was something else, and I'm still not even sure I can tell you exactly what... I just know, that when it came to orchestrating a (relatively) simple shoot for the end purpose of a single image, 

I was terrified. 

I dreaded it. 

I procrastinated it. 

I didn't think I was going to pull it off. 

my buddy Jason, hauling an actual door across our faux-desert bc I'm too stubborn to photoshop it in...

I almost DIDN'T pull it off. 

But then, about 6 mini-panic-attacks later... I did (at least, I think I did). 

I think all this just goes to illustrate, quite perfectly, some words that stuck with me from Mr. Steven Pressfield and his book 'the War of Art'...

“Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”

I remembered that. And I knew it meant I had to do it. Sometimes those moments of fear hit us, try to paralyze us, and we don't even have a good excuse (after all, I've taken on infinitely larger projects than this with far less apprehension). If you're having one... better keep at it. 

(the final shot)