The chances are if you’re a friend, colleague or client of mine, or have simply been following my blog for a while, you’ll have noticed the fact that I’m a huge fan of photography.

I came across this short video on Facebook earlier this evening and knew I had to share it with all of you:

I found it absolutely fascinating.

We all do it.  Every single one of us unconsciously creates our own ideas about who someone is based on their label, whether that label happens to be their job title or simply how they describe themselves as a person.

A lot of the work I do with people is about letting go of the labels they’ve given themselves (or have been given by others) because of the things they struggle with.  Once we’ve successfully managed that there is also usually some work to do around getting them to encourage the important people in their lives to drop those labels too – it’s tougher than you might think.

My favourite part of the whole film was this line right at the end:

“A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what is in front of it”

It applies to so much more than photography.  The way each and every one of us sees the world is completely unique.  We all have different filters and narratives going on in our heads, and as a consequence we have our own models of the world.  No one way is the right way, or the truth.

We’re all pretty much just making it (and ourselves) up as we go along.

Why not make ourselves up happy?

By choosing to see things differently we open ourselves up to a whole world of possibility and opportunity.  We shape our lives by choosing how to respond to the things that happen in it.  We also shape our lives by creating the things that happen in it, both positive and negative.  Think about that for a minute.

What if you were to pick a label you’ve given yourself (or have been given by someone else) and right now you chose to look at it from a different perspective?

What if you could alter your perception of what that label means to you?

What if you could decide that you don’t need that label any more?

What difference could that make to you, to your life?

I’m not saying it’s easy – it’s not.  But it is possible.

You don’t need to define yourself.

You’re you.

And that’s enough.