“Anxiety is often a sustained emotion produced
by a story that the mind has concocted.
It is often the result of a fear of
something that has not happened,
an attachment to some
imagined negative outcome.”
Steve Parish 

For many anxiety can start in childhood, the ‘poor little me’ stories develop and are carried into adulthood.  While I have had my fair share of anxious business and health moments in life; in my creative journey, the development of an idea through to the final act of sharing has been joyful.  However it can be as simple as a personal perspective. Steven Spielberg wrote, “I still have pretty much the same fears I had as a kid. I’m not sure I’d want to give them up; a lot of these insecurities fuel the movies I make.” Over the years many artists have shared that viewpoint with me, although personally I can do without the anxious feelings

When I joined the Queensland Parks Service in 1975 as a nature photographer I was introduced to the world of possums, bats, turtles, red kangaroos, water birds and much more. Until then my perspective had been entirely underwater photographing and studying the taxonomy and behaviour of marine fish and invertebrates.  I was overwhelmed and certainly anxious that I could manage to photograph creatures that did not live beneath the sea.   I was at a turning point when someone, spontaneously, made a remark following my rejection by the Queensland University to do a marine science degree (I had not graduated from high school so going to University at that time  was out) – his comment was, “A degree won’t do it for you, but a camera will!  You have an obligation, you should show the world what we have in this country and motivate others to protect it”.  

So I chose my direction there and then, I would work with scientists and show the world the wildlife and ecosystems they were trying to understand. I had a reason for being and my anxieties began to fade.  So now when I feel overwhelmed and anxious, I just do a spot-check on my reason for being

Above: This tenacious windblown tea tree is a particularly apt image and stance from a poem published in 1808 in a poem titled Marmion by Walter Scott, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”.  When it comes to deceptively manipulative resistant mind stories this stance is pretty apt don’t you think?  Resistance is an expert at deception and will trick you into giving up at every turn it possibly can. – Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia

Top:  Just like the root system of mangrove trees what a web of intrigue our minds can weave.  This way then that, as we tell ourselves story after story taking ourselves deeper and deeper into anxiety.   I have found in my own life that those that cope best with life’s many challenges are those who have a purpose in their lives, a reason for being.