There’s a quote that tells us to push our fear boundaries and conquer a fear everyday. I think that’s really some horse poop. Who has time between working, blogging, events, and daily life to seek out fears to conquer. I know I definitely don’t.
Although, I do think that the thought itself and the idea has some merit. Life as a linear plateau is not only unexciting but it also doesn’t challenge us to be better, stronger people. So perhaps, we should be committing some time to think about our fears and ways to conquer them (just not everyday).
I don’t think they need to be big fears (although kudos to you if you’re able to conquer one of those). They can be a small challenge that you never gave yourself the push to confront. I know, for me, one of my biggest fears is failure and disappointment of others. So I’ve learnt to accept my mistakes and not let others’ opinions get me down so much.
NB* I’ll be honest, I haven’t really conquered my fear boundaries of failure, but small steps are better than none right? 
This idea about pushing fear boundaries was the inspiration behind one of my first instalments of my #PolaroidProject with Bench Canada – where I’ll be exploring some of the coolest places in Toronto to share with you guys. I’ve never really had a big fear of heights – I loved going skydiving, bungee jumping, and all that adrenaline-junkie stuff. That being said, this experience (for lack of better words) scared me shitless.
I decided that it would be a great idea to explore the Scarborough Bluffs (an amazing GTA – Greater Toronto Area – spot that everyone always raves about). It has the reputation of looking nothing like the boring, more or less flat, country that Canada gets made out to be. The shots in the area looked absolutely stunning (and weirdly tropical). So of course, as a blogger and photo-chaser, I had to check it out.
At the bottom of the bluffs is a beach with light sand and beautiful cliffs that surround it. But if you venture off the beaten path and go up to the top of the cliffs, you’re basically suspended into the sky. You do have to cross a fence (for liability reasons I guess they’ve put those up), but once you do, you’re at the edges of the cliffs looking onto Lake Ontario.
There’s this little edge you can walk out to that is only about 3 feet wide (with no railings or safeties). It’s a photo op for sure, but one little slip and you’re off the side of the cliff about 100 ft down into the water. Scary stuff.
When I went out there, it was windy and I could feel my knees shaking. I was scared. I think you can tell in some of these photos that my fear boundaries were definitely pushed 
The inspiration behind my look from Bench. was definitely “mountain climber”, especially with that backpacking-esque sack (called the “Sanction Backpack”, which sounds pretty #badass). I wanted to go for the look of “adventurous” and “fearless”, although I definitely was terrified.
The outfit was comfortable, and Bench.’s new fall pieces are definitely for the city slicker who does it all. The anorak is one of my favourite pieces from the collection (dressed up or down, it looks so effortless). The “City pants” were definitely a good idea since it hid my shaky legs (but were also just super comfy).
Every time I looked down, all I saw was a huge drop and nothing but cold, violent waters. I kept thinking to myself, if you fall, you’re going to die, and officially become the blogger who died shooting
I don’t think the photos do the lookout point justice. I was too shaken to actually snapchat or take any photos (admittedly). I scurried back to safety after the photos were taken; but the sense of accomplishment and completion I got from challenging my fear boundaries was amazing.
Would I do it again? I don’t know. I kind of felt a little stupid for putting myself in such a compromising situation. All I know fore sure is that it reminded me that pushing your fear boundaries is important. You need to challenge yourself, keep your life exciting, and never give up on improving.
Till the next adventure!
What was your most recent fear boundaries push? Did it help you conquer the fear?
