A milestone. And maybe the most uncomfortable episode I've made so far.

A few weeks ago, I sent an email to thirty photographers I know. I asked them one question: What's your dirty little secret? The thing you'd never admit publicly. The thought that lives in the back of your brain at 3 AM.

I told them it would be anonymous. I just wanted the truth.

And I got a lot of responses.

This episode is about those secrets. The ones we carry alone. The ones that make us feel like frauds, or failures, or like we've made a massive mistake.

Some of these might be mine. I'm not telling you which ones.

But they're all real. And if you've thought any of them, you're not alone.

The Eight Secrets

1. The Gatekeeping - "I resent [X] photographers and think I'm better than them."
2. The Copycat - "I don't know how to make anything original."
3. The Performance - "I'm not as busy as I make it look."
4. The House of Cards - "I'm one accident away from losing everything."
5. The Golden Handcuffs - "I would walk away if I could afford it."
6. The Minimum Effort - "I'm just trying to get the work out the door."
7. The Burnout - "I don't care about photography anymore."
8. The Long Game - "I'm terrified I won't be able to retire."

Mentioned in This Episode

Leslie's Podcast: Niche to Meet You
A great show about finding your creative lane. Check it out.

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Credits

Music:

• Licensed through Blue Dot Sessions
• "Secret" by The Pierces

Hosted, Written, and Produced by: Patrick Fore

Your Turn

Write down one secret. One thing you've never said out loud. Not for Instagram. Not for anyone else. Just for you.

Take it out of the dark and look at it in the light.

You don't have to solve it. You just have to stop pretending it's not there.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with another creative who needs to hear it. And if you want to support the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more than you know.