I’ve often thought of myself as a slow learner. Sometimes, in order to really grasp a concept or an idea, I find that I need some space to let things simmer for a while. It may be weeks or months later before I realise that I seem to be comfortable with the idea of concept I’ve been trying to learn.

Initially I had thought that I would enjoy podcasts and audio-books, but I’ve come to the realisation that they are like runaway trains of thought. There is never a pause, a space or gap in which to stop and think about what I’ve been hearing or learning. Of course there is a pause button and I could of course choose to pause when I want to, but I think that natural forms of conversion tend to have natural pauses, and audiobooks, and podcasts do not.

My little audiobook that I was listening today, started to feel like it was a rollercoaster of ideas. I was underneath it all, feeling as though I was being pummelled with more ideas and thoughts than I could handle. I hit pause, and have come away to let the ideas I’ve been hearing about sit for a while.

In my view, progress in your photography does not come in a linear fashion. Progress spends most of its time appearing to plateau with no visible perception of change. The changes in general tend to happen behind our backs, in a more underground, hidden sort of way. I have often felt that I am the last to know that my work has progressed. Everything else around me has caught up with the fact except for me.

And so, putting the brake on now and then, or going down into a slower gear is part of the process. Rome wasn’t build in a day sort of thing. In my view, progress often isn’t obvious to the person who wishes it. It tends to only be visible when we compare with what we were doing a year or two ago, or perhaps even more.