The Power of Self-Discovery: Lessons from a Pair of Laces (D179)

Remember when you learned to tie your shoelaces? Most of us remember that. It’s a powerful moment of independence.

But how many of you remember when you learned to UNtie your shoelaces? It’s often the step before the memorable tying of laces. It’s where our son is right now in his self-discovery.

Every day when he returns from preschool, his shoes are unlaced and open. They flop around on his feet and the moment he gets in the car, he takes his shoes off completely. He doesn’t like wearing shoes. The dislike of wearing shoes has always been the same, but the removal of the shoes is a new phenomenon. When my husband asked me how we could get him to stop taking out his shoelaces, I said I don’t think we should.

Here’s why… taking off his shoelaces means he’s figuring out that he has the power to change things, to change his state—to not wearing shoes. When he was younger, if we put his shoes on, he didn’t necessarily even realize he could take them off himself. That new realization is a positive change and one that will lead to other self-discovery down the road. So it’s something to celebrate and encourage.

My self-discovery… Makes me think about my own journey as a photographer. I used to be afraid of the “M” on my camera (manual mode), not realizing that I was capable of putting it to good use. Not understanding limited my ability and growth, but as soon as I let go of that fear, everything changed. It’s been the same in so many other areas of my photography, as well as my life. It’s developing an understanding that I probably have more ability than I give myself credit for. It’s refraining from holding myself back for fear of not doing it right or even annoying someone else while developing my new found skill.

Your journey… What is it for you? What do you need to unlearn in order to grow and discover a new you?

Manual: Page viii—Test Shots.

Images: Checked out images in my feedly from Strobist and Digital Photography School.