Jump right in. Yes, go on, jump in and see what you are made of. Or are you scared? Can you swim? Is the water too deep for you?

Ok first of all, these photos were taken in January 2016, in Barcelona and it was an impromptu shoot. The plan was to get to W Barcelona and do a couple of shoots around the pool for a spring campaign I was working on. The minute we got there, I kind of knew I wanted the pool or rather the water in the pool to be an integral part of a shoot. That very moment, I decided that I have to get into the pool fully dressed.

Guessing the reaction I was going to get from the photographer, I kept my plans quiet until the very end. All throughout the previous shoots this idea occupied my mind and the more I thought about it the more it became more than just a shoot to me. The idea became quite symbolic as it would signify where I was in my life.

Now fast forward to the point where I was fully dressed in my suit and standing by the poolside when the photographer (who is now my girlfriend) asked me the question “where are your shoes?”. I took a deep breath and said to her I don’t need them as I will be getting into the pool. She took a long look at me from head to toe and then looked at the pool, then back again at me and then again at the pool with an expression that I can’t even begin to put into words. We stood there for a good couple of minutes in silence when I finally utter the words “trust me on this”. Anyway, cut long story short we did the shoot successfully. I have to add that she warmed up to the idea and eventually loved the whole concept.

Here I am a year and half later finally writing about this shoot and the idea behind it.

You may know that I started Cuts for Him in 2015 as a blog. At the time, I honestly thought bloggers (specifically fashion bloggers) lived a great life with all the glamorous clothes and beautiful places they travel to. I also thought that being a blogger would bring lots of money through endorsement deals and advertising other brands. Even though I loved and was passionate about talking about fashion and sharing ideas with other people, the money and the glamourous life was a motivation. Don’t get me wrong, I would have still done it purely out of passion and minus the money but doing what you love doing and getting paid handsomely for it was a dream Job.

January 2016 was a period of soul searching and exploring the option of a career change. Bear in mind that I had left my well paid cooperate job two months prior to my trip to Barcelona in January. Basically, I was jobless for the first time ever in my life and had no desire to return to the cooperate world. As far as I was concerned, I have to be part of this blogging and creative revolution. However, being a new blogger at the time did not pay the bills, hence one of many dilemmas. Added to that insecurity was the fact that I had spent my entire adult life studying for two university degrees and over 7 years of experience and I was about to leave it all behind for a “passion”. What if that creativity I have stored up inside of me is just meant to be a hubby? What if things do not work out the way I want them to? So many “what ifs” to address.

Let’s fast forward to a year and half later and see how I am getting on eh. Ha, did I hear you say “well that dream of yours is working out very nicely isn’t it?” lol. The truth is that I am nowhere near achieving my dream as a creative just yet and I will tell you why in a bit. Let me first of all say to you that all the questions I asked myself in January 2016 are still present today. The difference is that I am now more equipped and can manage them much better than I did in 2016. I would like to think that this is only possible because I jumped in.

As I mentioned above, my dream as a creative have not been fully achieved yet simply because it has far outgrown the dream I had a year and half ago. Yep that’s right my dream has evolved. I believe that as my dream grows, God continue to give me the grace to nature, prune and knock it into shape.

Lord knows I am no life coach but if you find yourself in a similar situation then my advice to you is to get in. As the saying goes, there is no time like the present. The worst thing that could possibly happen to anyone is to continue to neglect a passion for fear that it might not work out.

I have also come to realise that it’s not always about the destination. Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination. In fact, I believe that the destination would be more fruitful and rewarding if you make the journey count.