There are some things in life that are simple. We just complicate them because we’re afraid to explore our capabilities. So many things we proclaim we’re unable to deliver are just a result of our limited imagination. We don’t fail because we cannot do something. We fail because we have destined ourselves to fail.
This reminds me of my final year in high school. The whole school knew me as an orator, but in my mind, there was a clear demarcation between a live audience and a virtual one. The one thing I had made clear to myself and others was the fact that virtual audiences were not my thing. Besides, there had never been the need to push myself to that end, until one particular day when a virtual audience was added to the set, and somehow, I had to find a way to be comfortable with it.
I guess I was comfortable off camera because I wasn’t confident with myself. Let’s face it, anything recorded lives on for generations to come, and its reach is far greater than word of mouth. For a while, my mind wondered off thinking of all the comments I could possibly receive in the future, and I kept wondering if anyone would be proud of me one day.
I tried to escape by making excuses, or rather, let me say I was comfortable busking in my excuses. But I had no other way out. I couldn’t find anyone to do the job for me.
My peers encouraged me, and I decided to take a leap of faith and try something new. To be honest, that was the push I needed for me to conquer my fear.
It turns out I was a natural in front of the camera. I just needed to believe it. The positive feedback I received made me ecstatic, and since that day, my love for the camera has been insatiable.
Here I am years later, obsessed with touching people’s lives through my love for the camera, and the orator in me couldn’t care less who her audience is. With or without the camera, the best version of me is unstoppable.
My advice to all my fearful sisters out there is: Don’t believe fear. Trust yourself and overcome your fears. You’ve got this.
