Fear of Failure — Or Something Much Stranger? A couple of months ago I bought a new camera and a tripod with a remote shutter. The plan was excellent. I was about to leave for a month-long journey, and the tripod would be perfect for photographing landscapes and taking self-portraits without balancing the camera on random rocks like an emotionally unstable wildlife documentary filmmaker. Very practical equipment. Unfortunately, both arrived only about a week before departure, which meant I had just enough time to unpack everything, press a few buttons, confirm that the camera did not immediately explode, and then confidently tell myself: “I’ll properly learn this on the trip.” This is one of the most optimistic lies human beings regularly tell themselves. The tripod went into the backpack. The journey began. The camera was used constantly. The tripod, however, remained untouched for an entire month. Not once did I use it. Which is absurd, because it would have helpe...