It always starts out pretty exciting right?! When you get to travel somewhere new and go on an adventure. At least if you are like me it does; I don’t travel very often and especially not by myself so you can imagine the panic that set in when I was traveling home from a photography retreat in Las Vegas and the captain came over the intercom and so gently told the 200 plus passengers that we were “ground stopped” and would have to stay on the tarmac for at least an hour.
Does anyone even know what ground stopped means?! I sure didn’t. I didn’t have much of a layover in Denver but rather than panicking I thought I would go ahead and take the time to edit some of my images from the retreat.
Well friends: that hour turned into 2 and the panic from all 200 people on that plane on the Vegas tarmac could be felt. It was thick and heavy and jittery, like coffee but not the Starbucks kind that tastes good because of all the delicious whipped cream. The kind that comes out thick like sludge and tastes bitter.
Not to worry though because we actually did make it to Denver! Most of my new friends on the plane automatically had updates and new connecting flights. Some of them sprinted through the airport and ended up making their connections. Me… I got off and cried! This pretty novice solo traveler, prone to anxiety anyway, picked up the phone to call home and heard my son’s voice and just completely lost it in the middle of the walkway. It was a sight to be scene, trust me! Embarrassing!
But you know what: that happens!!! Life happen and you just have to roll with it sometimes then pull yourself up, get yourself together and start over!
Long story short, after a 3 hour wait at customer service with a bunch of other unfortunate souls just like me, I laid on my cot in the airport that night and thought how funny it is that being in this business of photography is kind of the same thing as being “stuck at the airport” sometimes.
As new photographers we have a dream. We have a plan and we know exactly where we need to go and how to get there. Sometimes though things just happen. Sometimes we get delayed, sometimes we get “grounded”, sometimes we just get stuck and don’t know what to do! Being in this business for the long haul has it’s ebbs and flows. You could be really in your moment for a season and then the next you might be questioning life (like me on that cot) thinking how in the world am I going to figure out where to go from here?!
But if you want to continue and stay in this world of photography for any length of time, you just have to pull yourself up, get yourself together and start over/start fresh!
It’s ok for things to not always go as planned! It’s ok to take a pause every now and again to adjust and find out what the next step is. As long as you just keep going to your destination and goal!
And if you need help… I’m a photographer that is a safe place! I’ve been “stuck” before! So if you need some help navigating, reach out and I’m here!
Just remember: you won’t be “stuck at your airport” forever!
Fingers crossed…. I’m still here!
