Planning Exposures

Sometimes I plan exposures ahead of time. Other times I just wait for them to come along. Often I do a little of both. But I've spending more time mapping them out at the beginning of the week lately and I really think it works better. Mostly because when I haven't planned ahead, I tend to be surprised and decide, well, I'll just save that for later. When I've planned it ahead, I've had a chance to work all the anticipatory anxiety out of my system and by the time I actually do the exposure, it's often no big deal.

However, when I DO make myself do the "spontaneous" exposures, there is one huge advantage- that of experiencing the anxiety spike and then drop. Last weekend I walked down an alley in my neighborhood. It was muddy, and FULL of junk. Just walking through it made my heart start beating faster. But within 15 minutes, I felt fine.

Huh, so I came to write that planned exposures are better, but apparently I just noted that both have great advantages. Guess I'll keep on with both.