"A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown". - Denis Waitley

Yesterday I entered a non-portrait or wedding related photo I shot while in Paris in a Street Photography contest. To be clear, someone from the company found the image online and contacted me to enter it.

BUT I, and only I had to make the decision and take the step to enter the image in the competition. I had to visit their site, read the rules, and make the decision to enter the competition or not.

While I can make anyone enjoy a portrait session with me, calm a nervous bride down to enjoy her wedding, and turn an anxious mother of the bride into my new best friend, the same cannot be said for my street photography skills. Truth be told, I'm afraid someone will see me try to take their photo and snatch my camera, get mad, or worse yet slap me. Street photography is not my thing. But I have made the decision to overcome the challenge and try it, cautiously. And someone saw one of those photos, like it enough to encourage me to enter it in a competition.

Did I have doubts? Let's see ...

Was the image good enough I thought?
Would people like it or hate it?
What if no one voted for it?
What if I didn't even get a ribbon or mention?

Was it in my comfort zone? Heck no! Did I enter the photo?

Wanna know something else that did not come easy but I now do? Solo travel! Truth is, millions of people do it every day, especially women. I'm often asked how I could travel alone, how come I'm not afraid, do you know anyone there? and on and on the question usually goes.

Here's the problem, or answer, depending on your perspective. I love to travel but do not have a travel partner. I have two choices:

1. Sit and complain about not having someone to travel with and talk to while traveling, or
2. I can get out of my comfort zone, travel to destinations unknown and chose to live.

I chose to live.
To not be hindered by what I don't have, in this case, a travel partner.

I go out of my comfort zone, explore new places, meet new people, even when there are language barriers. To conquer those barriers, a broad smile, Siri (thanks iphone) and google translate are phenomenal companions.

We all make choices, from the moment we wake up we're presented with choices.

You can choose to stay with the familiar or get out of your comfort zone, spread your wings and fly. You'd be surprised how your perspective on the world will change, the people you'll meet and the food you'll eat.

What will it be? Stay in your lane or get out of your comfort zone!

Curious about my next trip? Glad you asked, I have wedding Nigeria and South Africa, and a portrait in Dubai on the radar. Wanna tag along? Let's go!