Making My Way

Around my daughter's first birthday I decided that I wanted some pictures done for her. However I didn't want to pay someone to do it when I knew I could.

Before that, I had snapped a picture of my son, wearing my husband's old kevlar helmet and rucksack, standing in front of our door waiting for his Daddy to return from a lengthy training period in the field. My father, upon seeing the photograph made a suggestion that I did not take seriously until a while later. He told me I should submit my photo. It was good. It is my father I would like to thank for kicking my butt into gear, and helping to inspire me with those simple few words.

After taking my daughter's birthday pictures, and several shots with my tiny point and shoot camera, I hounded my husband to help me purchase a quality camera. I didn't get a teaching job this year, and part time work is not enough to justify me putting my children in daycare, not to mention unaffordable.

So I realized that there is no better time to open my own business. The perfect storm, so to speak to allow me to follow one of my passions, and be true to myself. Instead of conforming to a way of being, a way of doing, and being chained to one place every day, I have given myself the chance to do what I love. I used to take pictures and be involved heavily in art, but as I got older, the stability and reliability of being able to make a living at it was not on my radar. I ignored what I really wanted and tried to achieve other things, chase other careers because they were more stable.

Maybe the fact that I did not get a job this year is a blessing in disguise. I have the chance to start a career that I can more easily pick up and take with me every few years as the Army deems necessary, and I don't have to give up much to do it. In fact the opportunity to move around so much and travel is an asset for my new career.

After having been informed that I will most likely be spending a lot of time on Okinawa with out my husband, I realized that I needed something for me. I'm a mother, I'm a wife, a daughter, a friend, and I am sure I will become more things as time marches on, but I could no longer ignore what's inside myself. I've discovered a way to meld my love of art, with a career. When I take pictures I feel myself shining through and glowing from the inside out. Perhaps my photography will be my life long career, perhaps it will be my saving grace.