Redefining Resilience

I want you to take a moment and think about a time when you have been hurt. Now, take a moment and remember a time when you felt alone or abandoned. Take another second and think back to a time when you were scared or lost. Most of us have experienced these emotions because we’re human. It’s what we do. We feel things. But sometimes the world tries to make us believe we are not supposed to feel things. That our strength and resilience lies in our ability to move past and suppress. In my life I've been hurt; I've been made to believe I don’t matter; I've been told I am ugly. And I am not moving past any of those.

My idea of resilience isn’t a state where we simply rebound quickly from adversity, but rather the moment we realize that true strength comes from leaning into our pain. Similar to a Chinese finger trap, the more you run away from your pain, the more stuck you become. Resilience is about being truthful. It’s about developing a practice of being still and then courageously moving towards what hurts. We do not need to run away from our pain. We do not need to run away from self-doubt. We do not need to run away from fear.

My photoshoot with celebrity photographer, Maria Ponce, was an opportunity for me to confront fears and inadequacies that have been with me my whole life. I personally have no desire to move past them because without them I would not be the man I am today. I practice living and loving fully in their presence - that is where the growth opportunity lies.