Thanks to Summer School, I recently had a chance to meet a whole bunch of relatively new photographers. They weren’t just new coming into my network, but new to the industry.  During the three days we had a lot of opportunities to talk about their concerns and the path they’ve chosen to be a professional photographer.

Every insecurity any of us who are little more seasoned have ever had, they talked about. Or, if they didn’t talk about it, you could see it in their eyes. Taking any step in a new direction is scary. You wonder if you made the right choice, you worry about your family and the consequences of your decision. You constantly ask yourself, “Am I good enough?”  Often you spend so much time asking for advice that your decision-making process is flooded with more indecision, simply because you left yourself open to too many opinions. 

The summer is coming to a close and the seasonality of our industry is going to start to pick up a little. Business will get better, although not easier. We’re all part of an amazing industry and I for one, couldn’t be prouder to be involved with so many incredible people.

We’re part of a profession that allows people to stop time and cherish a moment forever. But all of us have moments when we have to stop and remember to be simply be happy.  So, here’s the thought for this last Friday in August, written just as it’s shown on my magnet by somebody named “souza”. It’s a fitting reminder that we’re spending too much time trying to find “happiness”, when in reality it’s there all along!

for a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. at last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. this perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. happiness is the way. so treasure every moment you have and remember that time waists for no one. happiness is a journey, not a destination…

 

A while back I quoted a kitchen magnet on the blog.   “Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain!” 

It’s time to quote another one, but more important, I’m adding a category on the blog, “Kitchen Magnet Wisdom”.   The truth is there’s a lot of great information on refrigerator doors around the world and it’s time I took a shot at capturing some of  it.   This is a call to action – send me a picture of your refrigerator door along with your favorite words of wisdom posted there.    Whenever I get enough to publish, I’ll make a post out of it!

“For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.  This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness.  Happiness is the way.  So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination…

It’s signed by “Souza”…and comes from a company called Quotable Magnets.

Now, here’s the thing about this post. I never got any great shots of refrigerator doors, but the opportunity is still there to take that Frigidaire to stardom! Send any images to skip@mei500.com and we’ll share them with the world! Hope everyone enjoys the week! Take the time to just relax and reflect!

But obviously it was good enough to give me an idea for a blog this morning!

“Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing!”

Here’s the context I’m using it in at the moment.  Skip’s Summer School was incredible – and I’m not saying that as a sales pitch.  Like so many attendees my head is swimming with ideas relating to my own business, the seeds planted by 15 of the finest instructors in our industry.  I’m always talking about how photography is a career choice where you never stop learning, but the truth is, that’s true for any business and mine is no exception.

So, as Sheila and I sit here waiting for our flight home, I can’t help but live by that quote…and I’m going to do nothing!  I’m going to just relax, enjoy the ride home with my honey and think about everything I learned this week.   We never stop learning – about ourselves, our business and our friends, especially new friends.  This past week was pretty amazing and I don’t know how to thank so many new and old friends for making it a success!

Okay, time to just go back to doing nothing!

Stay with me for one more paragraph, because there’s a point here.  We all work hard and we all have days when we’re frustrated. The one thing we tend to forget so often is that life is about friendships – not work. We get so wrapped up in the day-in day-out challenges that we forget we need to step away from business and hang out the old “Gone Fishing” sign on the door and leave Mayberry!   (Let’s see how many of you are old enough to understand that one!)

So, my suggestion for today is close up early and catch up with friends. Remember that texting and e-mailing and Twittering aren’t substitutes for looking someone in the eye. And while work is important, the friendships in our lives are more important. And the networking that comes with those friendships will be more than enough “work” to justify taking the time away from the office to brighten someone else’s day.

Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.  Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Do good anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway.

What you spend a year building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you help them.  Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you may get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you’ve got ANYWAY

This almost sounds like it was written by a troll who in a weak moment decided to come over to the side of optimism!  I’ll gladly give the author credit if anyone knows who wrote it.  For now, it’s simply a great thought condensed to one concept – positive actions trump the trolls!   Have a great Sunday…anyway!

Everything changed the day he figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in his life.

Think about that statement for just a second and now think about everything you’re trying to accomplish this week.  I woke up at 4:30 this morning thinking about everything I want to do today and was already worrying about whether or not I had enough time to get it all done!  Time isn’t our enemy, we are.   We spend so much time worrying about things we need to get done that we lose sight of the fun of the process.

We live in a world of deadlines.  The clock is always ticking – and I actually have an old analog clock in my office and I hear it ticking all day long, reminding me that I’m running out of time in the race to the finish line!  Finish line of what? My self-imposed pressure cooker to get everything done – but I’m the one creating the challenges.

The truth is, like many of you, I have a lot to do today.  The truth also is, there’s time to get it all done and whatever I don’t get done is still going to be there tomorrow.  My good buddy Julieanne Kost at Adobe has a great line when somebody asks her to take on a project.  If her plate’s full the response is simply, “Sorry, I’m out of bandwidth!”

So, it’s “First Tuesday” and I’m going to focus on the most important things first.  Then I’m moving to the things I just love doing.   We all know how to focus our cameras, but why’s it so hard to focus on projects and our own lives!  Time to go read that illustration one more time…

Everything changed the day he figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in his life.

It’s just a quick thought for a Saturday morning, but for a weekend blog, it just makes so much sense to ponder a little  and think about how you can explore, dream and discover.  Many of you are headed to WPPI and some of you are there already.  WPPI is an incredible arena for stimulating creativity and new ideas.

And, if you’re not there, it doesn’t matter – everyone has the same opportunity in the race to explore new ways to photograph, dream about exciting accomplishments to add to your “bucket list” and discover better ways to stay in touch with friends and family while still pursuing your passions in photography.

Just my two cents on a Saturday morning – sweet dreams!

It’s time to quote another one, but more important, I’m adding a category on the blog, “Kitchen Magnet Wisdom”.   The truth is there’s a lot of great information on refrigerator doors around the world and it’s time I took a shot at capturing some of  it.   This is a call to action – send me a picture of your refrigerator door along with your favorite words of wisdom posted there.    Whenever I get enough to publish, I’ll make a blog out of it!

“For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.  This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness.  Happiness is the way.  So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination…

It’s signed by “Souza”…and comes from a company called Quotable Magnets.

And a big thanks to my daughter who bought the magnet for me!   And just to demonstrate how much better her priorities are in line than mine, I bought one around the same time that simply said, “Life is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine”.  She’s definitely the deeper thinker in the family!