Go Loud Anyway

Today I submitted a major grant application. Today my photo book went live on Amazon.

I didn’t feel ready for either. I did them anyway.

That’s the whole lesson, really — and it’s one I keep having to re-learn. The grant application sat open on my laptop for weeks. Every time I looked at it I found another reason to wait: one more exhibition to add, one more paragraph to polish, one more credential I didn’t have yet. The photo book was the same story. Thirty-nine images, and I could tell you exactly which three I wasn’t sure about. I almost held the whole book back over three images.

Here’s what nobody tells you about “ready”: it’s a moving target, and it moves away from you. The people who get the grants, publish the books, hang the shows — they’re not the people who felt ready. They’re the people who filed the paperwork while their hands were shaking.

That’s the whole lesson, really. The future doesn’t belong to the people who wait until everything’s perfect. It belongs to the people who go loud before they’re ready.

“Louder colours. Louder textures. Louder life.”

That’s the quote I’m keeping for today — from me, to me, and maybe to you too. Whatever the scary thing is sitting on your desk right now, you don’t need permission. You don’t need perfect. You don’t need to feel ready.

Go loud anyway.

— Kellyann