Following your dream is important
Let me tell you how I know this to be true and how doing this lead me to become a photographer.
Before embarking on my budding career in photography I was a dental hygienist. I remember sitting at one of the lectures in college and one of my instructors said
“I can tell you this right now, if you are in this career strictly for the money, you will not last long as a dental hygienist.”
Hmmm, I thought to myself, why am I here? Yup, for the money! I went through the course and was a straight A student. (ok well there might have been the occasional B+) I graduated then began working, this was in 2004. I knew from the very beginning this would not be my final career choice.
So why choose it in the first place? Well for me it was a respectable career, it made great money, I liked sciences and I knew I could do the job but the big reason was, I didn’t really know what my calling was or what I wanted to do with my life. It was good enough for now.
People have often described me as artistic, I loved art when I was a kid and through high school, but never saw it as a viable career option, fast forward to 2011. We moved for my husband’s job, I was at home with two small children and had trouble finding work as a hygienist in the small town we moved to. So I decided I was just going to bide my time, enjoy being a stay at home mom and take a break.
We went for a visit to my parents place and my dad had gotten a fancy camera and I wanted it. I always loved taking photos and had recently been inspired by a photographer who came to do our family pictures. I wanted to learn how to use that thing and make beautiful photos too. Little did I know I would instantly fall in love and acquire an insatiable desire for learning this craft.
Once I started learning I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop, I wanted to learn more and improve. People started asking me to take photos for them. I knew from then on this is what I wanted to do. I found my calling and am now following that dream. It’s not as easy as it may sound though. I have to learn about all this business stuff……this part is not easy for me, but essential to becoming successful and give me the ability to sustain a career I love.
It may take a while to discover what you love, what fuels your mind and passions, heck you may never find out in the end or it may just take you by surprise, like it did to me. Or, you may have known all along, but were too afraid to pursue it.
Finding yourself and your place in the world is a life long journey, but take a leap of faith and follow your dreams, if it’s truly your calling you will make it happen. Self doubt and the daily negativity that surrounds us can be soul crushing. Block it out, rise above and your hard work will pay off. It’s what I have to believe and what I tell myself each day to keep going. Follow those dreams and let me know how it goes…I love a good success story.
Peace out.
