It’s What I Do Book Analysis Essay Example

Perseverance is defined by Jeff Edward, an author and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, as the capacity to carry out plans and goals to completion. This was shown through Lynsey Addario, a war photographer. By the influence of her self-reliance, she knew she could accomplish anything due to her persevering mindset. Lynsey’s book, It’s What I Do shows the impact of self-reliance and influence of perseverance on the way we treat life, by the goals we set and the work we do to better ourselves. In her book, she explains how photography has impacted her. She begins as a little girl relying on herself to jump in the water and transforms into a woman who relies on herself to capture photos of war-torn countries.  

When Lynsey was a toddler, she showed one of her first examples of self-reliance and stated, “I was only a year and a half old and couldn’t swim, so I was standing on my father’s shoulders...Suddenly without a word, I bent my knees and jumped in the water” (Addario 20). She relied on herself, and her dad knew she would not need help. As the definitions of perseverance and self-reliance are closely related, self-reliance is defined by Jim Taylor, a psychologist, as, “being confident in your own abilities and able to do things for yourself.” Even as a toddler, Lynsey showed that self-reliance is a built-in trait and that she could jump in by herself. As she began her career in photography, she kept the same sense of self-reliance and perseverance. 

When Lynsey’s passion for photography started, she was constantly traveling. She was traveling abroad, photographing as she went, and one of the first places she went was Argentina. It was the beginning of her career in photography, so she was still learning things like lighting or capturing scenes. She was new and sometimes missed the perfect moment but kept going back to try (Addario 26). War can be very traumatic, but she kept returning to recapture the moments of people in one of their most vulnerable states. She photographed people with little money or in unsafe places without opportunities to leave.  She witnessed many deaths and gory scenes, but it did not deter her. As Woodward, a professor at Howard University states, “self-reliance consists in principles action, often against coercive material.” Due to Lynsey’s principle of self-reliance, she was able to continue despite working in war zones. Lynsey fearlessly completed her work and worked hard for those she photographed. She wanted to bring awareness to the poverty and hardships the innocent citizens faced during war. She became successful due to her dedication to her work as well as how she relied on herself to achieve success. 

The successes she accomplished were due to her work. She persevered through anything to carry out her goal, as she stated, “My quest was simple: to photograph everything I could with what little I had” (Addario 27). Although she had little, she knew she would make an impact and gain success due to her self-reliance. It is inferred that she would do whatever she could to achieve success and reach her goal photographing for The New York Times. The work she did with little money helped to better herself and her career and continue to persevere. Although fear became a factor, she kept going. “I was shaken but not deterred by what I knew had become my mission in life. I accepted fear as a byproduct of the path I had chosen” (Addario 130). She persevered because she relied on herself, knowing she could make it through anything that happened. Self-reliance is also something in which someone may solely act on their personal principles and abilities. She had the ability to capture the moments of many people struggling with the hardship of war, which was her calling. The main personal principle in which Lynsey acted on was the passion for her career. Due to her passion, it was easier for her to rely on herself and persevere through fear. She was fearful when she was kidnapped and sexually harassed by soldiers, as she did not know if she would survive.  

As through her passion for her career, Lynsey was an example that, “perseverance may play an indirect role in the relationship between strengths use and achievement” (Bryant & Stratton). The strengths she showed throughout the book were passion, intellectual perseverance, and self-reliance. These characteristics helped her gain success and do well because of it. She worked hard to get the pictures, whether going into the middle of a gunfight or traveling and working as a woman in the Middle East. This was very uncommon due to.... 

Being self-reliant, Lynsey was also very independent. She admitted to her reliance on independence when she was injured and stated, “For the first time in my life I was injured; I could not take care of myself, and I realized how long I had taken my independence for granted” (Addario 209). It is shown that her admittance to this, as well as the injury that temporarily put her career on hold impacted her. She persevered through many things, and she knew she could withstand injury but had to rely on others to help her. Although she could not physically persevere, as it stopped her from photographing for a brief period, she could intellectually persevere by overcoming obstacles and continually photographing.  

It may be said that perseverance and passion are closely related. Simply, passion is the drive and perseverance is the ability to withstand the drive to complete something. The passion Lynsey had for her career made it easier for her to persevere through the events that caused her trouble. The amount of passion she held for her career caused her to worry about someone stealing an assignment from her because she believed she held the utmost passion for her career and had to persevere through anything to keep her spot. For much of her career, Lynsey was worried about someone stealing her assignment if she were to be sick, injured, or pregnant. She rarely took time off, as photography was her life and she was so independent and self-reliant, it was one of the only things she needed to fulfill her.