Growing up with the rise of the internet has to be one of the most iconic eras only one generation gets to claim is theirs, and I was a part of that generation. Starting out with playing outside with my limited imagination, to discovering the collaborating imaginations of the rest of the world at my fingertips completely opened up a surplus of opportunities and endless exploration.

But also with it came a need to always "be discovering", searching, and eventually, scrolling... and scrolling... and scrolling some more.

What once was an adventure and a blank canvas to lead to creation became a crutch to pass the time and occupy the silence. The opportunities to be with loved ones were surpassed to stare at the computer in my hands and many important moments were missed.

We all find ourselves here. The internet changed our entire culture and the entire way that a human being experiences life. But how does it affect us individually? How does it affect our creativity? Our perceptions of ourselves and our professional approach to business? If you think it hasn't then you might be deceived.

In part one of this two-part podcast, Cicily talks about her personal encounter with the internet and her own perspective on how it has affected her as she has grown up, explored her creativity and started a business. She provides insights to how she has attempted to manage and set boundaries around what she feels holds her back, while also being very vulnerable about how she hasn't perfected her management of doom scrolling.

Thank you for being a part of our podcast family.

To find Cicily, you can follow her on social media on these platforms:

https://www.instagram.com/cashcraftphoto/

https://www.instagram.com/iamcicily/

https://www.tiktok.com/@cicilyashcraftphoto

https://www.pinterest.com/cashcraftphoto

You can get in contact and create with here via her website:

https://www.cicilyashcraftphotography.com/

In this episode, Cicily gets vulnerable about her own struggles with navigating pitfalls and setbacks in the journey towards accomplishing her goals and seeing her dreams come true, and how it affects her desire to keep persevering through it. We all want to be successful, right? Well, is our definition of success the money and the fame and the awards? What happens when you experience setbacks and those things don't happen right away, or even after a while?

Are we unsuccessful and not cut out for our goals and dreams? Should we give up when the money doesn't roll in and when the dreams don't come true?

Or is our definition of success all wrong? Could "success" possibly be more than the money in our banks and the trophies on the shelves?

Cicily proposes in this episode that success has been twisted into this short-sighted version of what it really is, and society has taught us to worship the mere 'evidence' of the process of developing into the people we become when we inherit the label of success. The money, the fame, the accolades, those are things we often associate with this notion of success, but there is an entire other side to it that no one wants to celebrate and romanticize - and it's the process...

Millionaires often go bankrupt and broke in their business ventures. CEOs often start their companies in their garages. Artists write thousands of songs before they have a hit.

NOTHING is overnight, but the result of the success seems to tell us that it doesn't require constant effort, and tweaking, and changing, and failing, and falling, and nothing in the bank many times.

So when we find ourselves there in the "nothing in the bank", in the "F on the term paper", do we give up on the dream entirely because we are unsuccessful?

Or do we re-wire our brains to redefine the word "success" and understand that there is a process to get there, and failure is a part of that process?

Ultimately, how we view success will determine if our goals and our dreams come true or not. And when we go broke, or have to get a part time job, or have to start over, it's not that we failed or we never will succeed, but that there is something else we need in order to elevate to the success we aspire to.

This podcast is a Creatives Club Media podcast, hosted by Cicily, the founder of Creatives Club. If you have questions you would like Cicily to address on this podcast, you can submit those questions to her email:

You can also listen to our other podcast, No One's Home anywhere you get your podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/no-ones-home/id1772337402

https://open.spotify.com/show/5zHuBCexYBkiM0Lb3e84CM

You can also follow along Cicily's journey in her professional life on various social platforms:

https://www.instagram.com/cashcraftphoto/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovYiUi2thfLo74FFduvdmQ

Thank you so much for being a part of the Creatives Club!

Where did this fear of failure come from? It seems that everyone I talk to is afraid of the very idea of failing, paralyzed by the potential choices that could lead to their ultimate "demise" when a step hasn't even been taken yet. So many of us never pursue our dreams and goals simply because failure might be involved, and we "just can't handle that kind of rejection" (the iconic line from 'Back to the Future').

It isn't said enough that in order to reach our goals and see our dreams come true that we will inevitably face a kind of failure. We will say the wrong thing, go the wrong way, try on a piece of clothing that doesn't fit, make an unwise purchase, etc etc etc. The list goes on and on. Life is all about the unfolding of who we are, and as complex as we are, we come with our own dreams and goals and desires that require effort and pursuit - and lots of trial and error - to come to fruition in our lives.

No one wakes up a professional and an expert at something. No poor person snaps their fingers and becomes rich. Life is not going to give you an award for waking up. If you want something - and you should! - you're going to have to navigate the waters of failure.

But unlike we've been taught to believe, failure is not a landmine. And it is NOT who you are.

Welcome to Episode 2 of LIGHTS, CAMERA, SMILE! where we unpack the inferiority complex associated with failure and the demand on us if we want to see our dreams come true. We have to learn not to allow the obstacles of our lives to become the labels we wear, but rather, another layer to the foundation of our ever-growing, ever-changing lives that allow us to grow and get better, so one day, we can look back and realize what it was all for.

Let me know in the comments what other topics you'd like me to tackle here on this podcast, or send me an email at: [email protected]

Get creative and collaborate with me on a project by connecting with me on my website: www.cicilyashcraftphotography.com

Follow me on social media:

www.instagram.com/cashcraftphoto

www.facebook.com/cashcraftphoto

https://www.tiktok.com/@cicilyashcraftphoto?lang=en

Starting off strong, the very first episode is going to cover the topic that many encounter and find themselves sucked into a void of silently suffering, unable to find an escape or the motivation to push them out of it. Comparison is a life-sucker, a joy-robber, a creative-killer. If we agree with the concepts of comparison, we hop on a hamster wheel of counterfeit and copy-cat livelihoods, seeking the validation of everyone else around us, and lose our unique fingerprint, exchanging it for the need to be like someone else. And when our hamster wheel gives us no progress towards the goal of someone else's success, we count ourselves as useless and worthless and altogether stop contributing to the life we have to live and stop sharing our own thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

We were never destined to live our lives for the praises and applause of others. Each of us has something beautifully unique to bring to the table of our existence, but the trap of comparison tells us that we must first have the approval of everyone else before we have the RIGHT to share. That is a lie.

When we don't measure up to the standards of other people, we count ourselves out of the race of destiny. We stop enjoying the things within us that we are wired towards, and we honestly, steal away the joy we actually bring others when we fully embrace who we truly are to our core.

Let's make a commitment to stop comparing to other people. It's only doing us a disservice. It echoes the lie that we don't belong in the same places and spaces as other people simply because they held on longer than the rest. You will find success in staying true to yourself - and that success might look different than the person you admire and want to be like. And that is okay!

My goal on this podcast is to push you into the destiny you've been holding yourself back from, counting yourself short of, and justifying sitting on the bench about. Reject the lies and embrace how beautiful you are and how worthy you are to share what you have to share with the rest of us. You are just as valuable as the next person. Get in there, and give it your best, and that is all that matters.

If you would like to watch on YouTube, you can view the podcasts here:

https://www.youtube.com/@cashcraftphoto

If you would like to follow along on social media, feel free to give me a follow:

https://www.instagram.com/cashcraftphoto/

Leave me a comment below or send me an email with any questions or topics you want to be encouraged about!

You are valuable! I love you!