I kind of wish Ira Glass would just follow me around all day and say inspiring things. 

In the meantime, this video below is a solid alternative. Anyone pursuing creative endeavors of any kind should watch this every now and then to remind them that it takes a lot of practice and determination to get to the place you want to be.

Did you watch it? Okay, good.

As I'm starting to pursue this blog and the photography/videography/styling side of food a little more seriously in my personal and professional life, I really identify with "the gap." I'm pretty sure my taste is still about a Grand Canyon away from my skill level — it's a significant gap. It's the kind of gap that made me shy away from practicing for long time, because I was never very happy with the results. And because, in general, I don't like being bad at things. Even hobbies.

But I picked the camera back up again and again, took more pictures and fell in love with the process so much that I would completely lose track of time. Now a lot less of those pictures suck (progress!).

I thought the image at the top of this post would be fitting because it was the first photo I took where I was like, "Hey, this is pretty good." For the first time ever, I didn't pick it apart. I genuinely liked the composition and the light (and — bonus — it wasn't blurry or overexposed!). I even liked the way I edited it, which is saying something because I am constantly looking at older photos on this blog and wondering WTF I was thinking.

For the first time, a photo was good enough to get a gold star from my stodgiest critic — me.

Now, almost two years after I took that photo en route to Kansas City for The Midwestival, I find myself wanting to re-edit it. Like, just a liiiiiittle bit. And that might be picky, but I'm calling it progress. I've come to accept that I'm constantly embarrassed by my first drafts, and that's okay because it means I'm getting better.

Anyway, I thought this would be a good way to celebrate the new year and a new approach to Worthy Pause.

Cheers to doing more of the things that make you lose track of time, punching self-doubt in the face and slowly narrowing that gap.