Last night I was thinking… I started so long again and I’ve hit the pause button so many times on my business. I needed a pep talk… so I sat down and wrote myself a letter. I hesitated to share this but I wondered if others feel the same as I do. It’s easy to hit the pause button, or feel discouraged (especially with the weather we’ve been having). Sometimes we all need a quick pick me up. So I decided to share my letter to myself and maybe someone else might need to hear these words too….
Dear Brooke,
Remember that this is your dream… always! Always keep that in mind through every minute of every day. You chose this, or maybe this chose you. Whichever the case may be, it’s yours and you have chosen to go after it. It’s a brave choice and it’s the right choice!
Remember this always for it needs to be at the backbone of every thought and at the very heart of every situation. It sounds silly and it sounds like a line when it’s tossed around but nothing worth anything comes without work. It’s not a line and it is very true. This is going to be work… hard work! There are going to be times when you will be discouraged. There will be times when you want to give up: days, weeks, even months at a time. There will be moments where you will question if you are meant to do this. Remember anything worth having requires persistence and a single focus determination!
You will need to have patience! Nothing worth having comes easy and nothing worth having is quick! Staying power takes time to grow and mature. This is an art. It’s a passion. It’s YOUR passion. Remember why you picked up your camera in the first place. You wanted to learn and develop. This is a life long process, not a quick success. Your skills and your personality in this field will grow and develop from moment to moment, from one stage of life to the next. THIS is what is exciting and lovely! Your business should do just the same. Allow the time for this happen. Be patient. Be graceful and kind to yourself.
Take leaps of faith! Sometimes in order to succeed, we must blindly trust or at least have the guts to say “I have faith in myself”. If we don’t have confidence in ourself who else will? Take the leaps. What’s the worst that can happen? At least you can say I tried! Nothing is worse than wondering could I have done it… could I have made that work?! Regret is worse than failure!
Be a force of positivity! Be a storm front of grace and kindness to those around you, and also to yourself! Share your knowledge and share your joy for this world that you see behind your lens! Connect with people and open up! Remember that we are all brand new to some part of this photography journey whether we are just picking up the camera or we have been shooting professionally for years and years!
Remember to be silly! Laugh often as you do with your clients! Life is not serious and our moments and stories are not always serious. Remember this on the days that you find yourself discouraged or in a lull! Silliness often brings about creativity and there are always opportunities to pick up the camera and document life!
Be professional and know your worth! Push yourself and have policies intact that help you navigate your own weaknesses and insecurities. Keep learning and evolving!
Find positive people who can lift you up and be that person who can life them up in return!
And Most importantly… remember to have fun. That’s what this was about in the first place!
The camera was and always will be your space. It is where you can share your vision of the world. It’s uninterrupted and beautiful!
Remember all this… and feed your passion!
xo
B
