Presence Over Performance
Leading with Intention
This morning, I cheated.
Instead of giving myself silence, stillness, or space to wake up slowly, I reached for my phone.
I started scrolling.
Facebook.
Instagram.
A little bit of everything before I even got out of bed.
Usually, I try to protect the first 15 to 30 minutes of my morning.
I’ll put on affirmations, take a shower, let my mind wake up before the world gets to me.
But today, I didn’t do that.
And honestly, I felt the difference.
Everything Started Feeling Performative
Lately, I’ve been sharing bits and pieces about a personal project I’m working on called Portraits & Stories of Presence.
I posted about looking for people who might want to be part of it.
A lot of views.
Not many responses.
And that’s okay. That’s part of it. You keep showing up anyway.
But after scrolling for a while and seeing everybody posting their work, their wins, their growth, and their “moment,” I just felt exhausted.
Not because anything bad is happening.
But because everything online started feeling performative.
Like everybody is constantly trying to prove they’re doing enough, succeeding enough, becoming enough.
And maybe I’ve been caught in that too.
Sitting With My Mother Changed Something
Yesterday, though, something slowed me down in the best possible way.
I sat down with my mother for the first session of Portraits & Stories of Presence.
And for the first time in a while, there was no pressure to perform.
No algorithm.
No strategy.
No trying to turn a moment into content.
It was just real.
I got to photograph my mother, but more importantly, I got to understand her more deeply — her upbringing, her experiences, and who she is today because of everything she’s lived through.
And it reminded me why stories matter.
Stories Over Content
Social media moves fast.
Too fast sometimes.
You scroll endlessly through people’s lives, opinions, achievements, and work until eventually you start disconnecting from yourself.
You’re either consuming or performing.
But sitting with my mother reminded me that photographs can become more than images.
They can become memory.
Reflection.
Proof that someone was here.
Something that lives on.
And I think preserving humanity might be one of the most important things we can do right now.
What Business Actually Taught Me
Ironically, business taught me this too.
For a long time, I thought business was about sales, strategy, and figuring out how to convince people to buy something.
But over time, I realized business is really about relationships.
Communication.
Trust.
Guidance.
Presence.
The more you genuinely care about people, the more they trust you.
And sometimes that doesn’t immediately turn into money or a booking, but that’s not always the point.
Sometimes people just need someone to help guide them in the right direction.
Business stopped feeling transactional once I understood that.
It became human.
I’ve Been Rushing Myself
I also realized I’ve been rushing myself.
Not because someone directly told me success had to happen overnight, but because social media quietly programs urgency into all of us.
You start believing that if it doesn’t happen now, maybe it never will.
But I’m starting to understand that meaningful things take time.
Stories take time.
Relationships take time.
Growth takes time.
Becoming takes time.
And maybe the tortoise really does win.
Not because they move faster, but because they keep moving.
Presence Over Performance
I still want to make an impact.
I still want to grow.
I still want to create meaningful work.
I still want to leave something behind that matters.
But I no longer want to rush becoming.
And right now, the work for me is being present.
Trying ideas.
Seeking feedback from peers.
Not being afraid to take advice, give advice, and show up as my full self — even when it feels like I’m all over the place.
I believe everything will work out.
I believe I’m special and talented enough to become the person I see in the mirror and the person I see in my mind.
Maybe that’s what this season is really teaching me:
Not to rush becoming.
Just to keep showing up.
Presence over performance.
