How Injuries Made Me a Better Creative
- Julia Jakovleva
- 38 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Not so long ago I got the abundance wrong. I thought it was about carrying more things and being all over the place.
I'd pack my backpack full of gear, suffer throughout the hike and use only a small fraction of what I carried to capture the moments that mattered. I'd make checklists of what gear upgrades I needed to make before going on a trip.
Until my injuries taught me that wasn't how abundance worked.
In late November 2024 I left the crutches and months of limited mobility behind.
In late January 2025 I boarded my first trip of the year. An extended visit to Ronda that I had a short glimpse of back in 2017.
And my condition was: I could only take 1 camera and 1 lens. And no drone. Even though my FOMO was kicking me that I’d miss some great photo opportunities, my Mavic Pro 2 had to stay at home. And I reminded myself, that my phone was a camera too.
I knew my body capacity at that time wouldn’t allow me to carry a heavy gear loaded backpack. So I needed to keep it as minimal as possible. And trust that even one lens was enough.
Instead of my hefty NYA-Evo backpack I used a compact Tropicfeel Nest with a small camera insert.
That insert would protect my camera during the commute.
The first sunset I experienced in Ronda was on my rare evening walk around the town.
I did take my camera with me without knowing what to expect.
It was a post-storm weather and the sky looked dramatic.
Unfortunately, the access to proper viewpoints was closed. I could only squeeze my camera through metal bars of the surrounding fence. That was enough to allow me to capture a rural scene across the other side of the Tajo gorge. A scene
decorated by dramatic light rays breaking through the clouds.
That evening I also understood something. Chasing both sunrises and sunsets was too much for my body to handle. And I opted to focus on the mornings alone. Good light, less people and better energy. It worked wonders for me.
In hopes to repeat my Spa hotel experience, I crammed a visit to hammám on my last day in Ronda.
Just at the time I needed to check out from my accomodation (pretty sure, it was the FOMO factor again).
But both my spirit and my body told me it would be too much and I canceled it.
Instead, Ronda made a gift to me.
A fog covered the town in the late morning, still before I checked out from the place.
It was a photographic opportunity I could not say no to. Have I not canceled the hammam visit, I would have missed it.
I didn’t bring a lot of photos from Ronda. But I brought the ones I was proud of.
In my next trip to Llanes I added a couple of ND filters and a drone to my travel gear.
But it wasn’t a heavy Mavic Pro 2 that I used for my past aerial footage. It was a lightweight Mini Pro 4 that I could easily carry over my shoulder.
I made it very intentional once again. In the first 3 mornings I limited myself to just one place. It was Cubos de Memoria. And each of these mornings I came back with different story angles.
Including the aerial ones...
To re-test my limits, I headed for an evening walk this time. Where I ran into Ioachim, a German man playing shamanic drums and practicing reiki. And he too became a character of my story.
ND filters weren't a wasted weight either. I used them at Playa del Toro, close to my accomodation.
I didn’t bring a lot of photos from Llanes either.
But again I brought the ones I was proud of.
My trip no 3 was to Northern coast once again. Basque country this time.
I had the same kit I used in my Llanes trip: 1 camera, 1 lens, 2 ND filters and a mini-drone.
One morning in San Sebastian I went out to soak my feet in the sea and snapped surfers walking into their element.
Another morning I headed for a walk in the old town.
And I snapped a handful of street moments in the counter lighting.
It wasn’t a lot of photos. But they were the ones I was proud of.
On my hike from Zumaia to Zarautz I snapped a couple of Camino walkers walking into the distance.
In Getaria, I snapped 2 more moments, one of them with my phone camera.
Between Getaria and Zarautz I snapped a few more scenes.
A particular rural scene with rolling hills and wineyards caught my attention.
It even inspired me to lift my little drone up and see how it looks like from the bird's perspective.
In Zumaia I snapped a few casual moments at Itzurun beach.
That wasn’t a lot of photos either. But again they were the ones I was proud of.
I kept working with my body to improve its resilience. And in preparation for my trip no 4,
to the south of France, I was making frantic checklist of gear upgrades I thought I needed to make (abundance going the wrong way). But I did none of that. Instead I did just 1 significant upgrade.
Finally I took my NYA-Evo backpack! But I still chose to carry 1 camera, 1 lens and 1 mini-drone.
I snapped a few images in Nogaro while overtaking a 22 km hiking challenge.
Then I celebrated my 42nd birthday and snapped a few more in Auch.
In the local market while talking to the Turkish couple and waiting for the fresh falafel :
By the river flowing through the town:
And even accidental magic moment below the bridge:
And then I snapped some more images in Cordes-Sur-Ciel.
In the morning streets, while walking:
In the local market, while stocking on food for my stay:
At the viewpoint, while contemplating the fog:
Even on a morning, when I had technical issues with my drone and couldn't fly it further than 50 meters, I still managed to create a panorama.
The other morning, with the flying capacity not so limited - I was able to create more:
In the eerie goodbye atmosphere beneath the fog:
All this while challenging my body resilience on the slopes of the village.
Every single day.
It felt like in this trip to France I captured more photos than in my previous 3 trips.
And still they were deeply close to my heart and the ones I was proud of.
These limitations didn’t turn me into a worse creative. The opposite, they made me better.
I became more intentional, my observation became sharper. And I became more at piece about not being all over the place.
You don’t have to carry all the gear in the world in fear that you’ll miss an opportunity. Most likely you will miss something anyway. And that’s totally okay.
But you can carry less and focus on the moment you are in. This way, you’ll make sure not to miss it.
P.S. Some of these snaps will make it into my next art collection. Join my limited waiting list here.