Today (I wrote this text on the 5th of January, 2025), I wanted to dive into discomfort.
When I left my home in Warsaw with a 25 kg rucksack on my back and shoulders at -2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit), I told myself I wanted to dive into discomfort. Indeed, I took over 12k steps with a heavy rucksack and wearing summer clothes. Of course, I also did street photography. Was it hard to walk 8 km (5 miles) in such an occurrence? Yes, it was. Still, when I knew I wanted to dive into discomfort, I found pleasure in pain. Indeed, without finding pleasure in pain, I would not do what I do. I love physical activity, with walking and rucking at the forefront. The longer I do all these things, the more I want to do them.
Undoubtedly, I am addicted to all these things.
Also, I reminded myself that approximately one year ago, I was wondering what else I could do to upgrade my photo walks? After all, when I started doing it in October 2015, I walked like 99% of other people. I was fully clothed. Five years later (to be more precise, in Fall/Winter 2020/2021), I discovered walking in summer clothes in frigid temperatures. After two years of doing it, I thought there was no other way to upgrade this activity.
Now I know I was wrong.
Rucking upgraded my way of doing street photography. Walking, taking pictures of mundane surroundings, feeling freezing cold, and having unbearable weight on my back and shoulders are things I love to do. Now, I am wondering if I can take all these activities to another level in the future. I do not know what the future holds. Still, I think the world amazes me each year. The fact that I love diving into discomfort is something I did not expect from myself in the past.
