The Photo Op of a Lifetime

My dream has always been to go to Africa and photograph the wildlife and landscapes.  But the most attractive aspect to going is to be able to see the African Elephants in their natural habitat and photograph them especially.

Along the way, I’ve met a few people who thought this was a cool dream to have.  I’ve met a few who asked me why I didn’t pick a different dream (really!) and I’ve met many who tried to talk me out of it for one reason or another.

I was talking to my therapist, who just returned from Africa on a mental health professionals trip for studying genocide in Rowanda.  I spoke with her about this dream photo shoot, and she said she too all too often heard people try and talk her out of it, or ask her why she would want to go to Africa, or why she’d want to study the effects of genocide on remaining populations, and tell her she should do something else.  She said that it didn’t matter that if is Africa or Alaska, people will find a way to criticize another person’s dream or desire and that the best thing that dreamers can do is to just ignore these people, don’t even entertain them in conversation, and do it anyway.  She said that people who would criticize another person for something they want to do, or feel they need to do, will never understand so there is no sense in trying to explain the “Why”.  When people asked her why she wanted to go to Africa, knowing what she was going there for, she knew they would never understand.  It’s the same thing with anything else, even something as simple and pleasurable as a photo shoot.

She has helped me understand that my dream of going to Africa does not need to be dependent on another person telling me it’s okay (like my husband for instance) or anyone coming with me.  These were obviously things I knew logically already, but she helped me understand it on a deeper level than just that brain logical way.

So I will be going, no matter who says I shouldn’t and no matter who doesn’t understand.  I will do it.  It is the one thing that if I were on my death bed never having done it, I would regret it.  So this is a must-do dream.  This is not one that I can compromise and I’ve realized that it’s not one that I’m willing to compromise either.  I need to get my ducks in a row and then I’ll be going.