Last month I had the opportunity to attend a marketing conference in Chicago. While visiting, I decided on my free day to explore the Art Institute of Chicago since I had never been. I obviously had to mentally recreate the scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when Cameron is intently staring at the famous painting of Georges Seurat’s ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’. I wanted to feel like Cameron in that seen when he stares deeper into the painting, revealing all the purposefully placed little dots that come together to create a larger image. It became his epiphany.
With Cameron and Seurat on my mind, I acceded the stone stairs with a vision to find my metaphorical epiphany. At first I was so focused on capturing each piece that spoke to me, but seeing as there were a lot of other people with the same idea, it was hard to find the opportunity to take a photo with no one in the shot.
I was internally screaming at everyone that walked in front me right as closed the shutter only for it to open to a Sasquatch like figure lolling across my camera screen. I knew that the point of coming to the museum wasn’t to take pictures of the each individual pieces themselves. But that was what I so focused on and it became frustrating when it wasn’t going my way.
I needed to find something else to capture because I just didn’t walk a mile and a half up Michigan Ave for nothing.
It wasn’t until I came across the ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ that it dawned on me who my subjects should be. Realizing how inspired Cameron was in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I quickly changed my perspective of the people around me. They were no longer pests that were lingering in my way, they were my subjects, and it became my mission to capture their moments of inspiration.
Having that ah-ha moment made me realize how important it is as an artist to let go of control. I went in with the mind set of the perfect shot of my favorite piece. But after I tried multiple times to force the shot with no luck, and a lot less patience, I wanted to put my camera away because it just wasn’t worth it to me, at that moment.
I wouldn’t say it was any sort of epiphany like Cameron’s, but I left the museum that day more inspired and educated as a creative. Letting go of that desire for the perfect shot led me to more opportunities that I would have over looked otherwise. It made my experience that much more meaningful and it me allowed to have fun.
If you are stuck at roadblock in your creative projects, or in personal lives. Take a step back and reevaluate why you are there. Let go of this pressure you may putting on yourself to achieve your goals because maybe, just maybe what you are doing isn’t the right way of do it. I don’t know just a thought lol.
Challenge yourself to let go of some of the control you maybe forcing in yourself. If you have found that particular project or relationship is drowning, reevaluate your approach. Are you the cause to the problem? What are some ways you can change the situation? Allow yourself to see the situation from a new perspective and try again. You may be surprised at the results.
Below I posted some of the photos I took that day. Check them out!
