Lost Your Mojo? What’s a Mojo?

“I’ve not been out shooting lately as I’ve lost my mojo.”

I cringe everytime I hear someone say that. What is a mojo, anyway? Some mystical force that makes you pick up the camera, to feel inspired, take great shots? And when it’s gone, you just sit around waiting for it to return? Let me tell you something that is my experience: there is no mojo. There never was.

We tell ourselves all kinds of things. I’ve lost my motivation. I’m not feeling it. I’m just not in the zone. And we believe it. But here’s the truth, again, in my experience: those thoughts, the ones closest to your ears, shape your reality. The more you tell yourself the more that becomes your reality

Who’s Running the Show?

Are you in control of your thoughts, or are they controlling you? That’s the real question. Because if you let those voices dictate when you create, you’re handing over the keys. I was talking to my son the other day, and he mentioned his subconscious—like it was some separate entity making decisions for him. But what is the subconscious? We read about it, people write books on it, but has anyone actually seen it? Like what is your experience? The only thing that’s real in my experience is what is conscious, what’s happening right now.

And yet, we get caught up in the stories we tell ourselves. We believe in limits that don’t exist. We act like we’re waiting for permission to take the shot, to create, to take risks.

The Space Between Thoughts

Creativity doesn’t come from overthinking. It comes from presence. From tuning into what’s in front of you. Did you know it’s impossible to hold more than one thought at a time? It feels like a stream, but if you slow down, you’ll notice—there’s space between each thought. And that space? That’s where the juice is. That’s where you stop seeing through filters of conditioning, past experience, self-doubt.

That’s what The Dare Workshop is about. Waking up to what’s real. Letting go of the baggage and learning to see again—not just in photography, but in life. Because photography isn’t separate from life. The way you shoot is the way you live. And when people come to the workshop thinking it’s just about street photography, they leave realizing it’s something much bigger. I’ve had messages that would break your heart in the best way—people telling me how stepping out of their own head changed their entire approach to living.

Just a thought.