The pain in comparison.

Comparison.


A word that slips quietly into everyday life… yet it weighs far heavier than it sounds. It comes from Old High German firgilīhōn, meaning to make equal or to align. And that’s exactly where the problem starts: Aligning yourself, making yourself equal, often means systematically erasing your own uniqueness.

Especially in photography… a space that should celebrate different ways of seeing… comparison can become a quiet illness.
At first, it’s just scrolling. Then observing becomes evaluating. And eventually, silence.The camera stays on the shelf. Not because the passion fades, but because your voice gets lost in the noise.

I no longer enjoy comparing myself. Even less do I want to be in spaces where that’s the only language spoken.
Who’s faster, richer, prettier, better - I’m not interested.

Comparison becomes toxic when it feeds the illusion of an objective, measurable better. But really, what does better even mean?

We compare ourselves to people who are 10–15 years ahead, with different resources, access, realities. And that makes no sense.

Don’t get me wrong, ambition and drive are powerful. I believe in both.
But that’s not what this is about. It’s about the quiet, exhausting comparison we carry, especially on social media.
Until we remember: the grass grows where you water it.

When I catch myself slipping into that mindset, I try to gently shift the focus back to me. Because what happens inside your mind, the stories, the visions, the perspective - no one can take that from you or me.

The moment I focus on what feels meaningful to me, I don’t even have time to look left or right… because that thing inside me is louder, deeper, and far bigger than everything else (and I‘m sure it‘s the same for you!).

Keep going Rockstar, you are doing great!

Best,

Maria