It's not about the Money.....

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

Buddha

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I did! I spent most of my time rearranging my office and getting some portraits on the walls. I still have a ton of books, notebooks and sketchbooks to sort and organize. I like to compile ideas, favorite poses, & learning materials for my business within all these sketchbooks & notebooks....so needless to say I have a ton of them floating around. Thanks to my husband my desk now faces our double windows towards the front of the house ....so I can see the world while I work. I think it’s time I get a few things off my chest and address a few issues that I struggle to understand.

While I was visiting with my parents on Sunday, my very wealthy uncle had a few things on his mind apparently. Mainly, that he felt I needed to get a job? Get a job? I have a job? The audacity! I work harder than he ever did… working for a factory!  Running a business is... having a fulltime job 24/7 you are never off. Your mind is never at rest and you are never finished. I get up every morning and work my butt off. What does he know?!? Right? After telling him repeatedly ...I own my own business and I am actually doing very well for myself... considering my business is only about three and half years old. He shook his head with disgust and asked my husband, “well maybe it's time you get a second job” Are you kidding me right now? I had to seriously breathe through this one...like in yoga when the pain is too much….. are you serious? Really? You have some nerve?!? Our personal life is none of your concern…..I was thinking all of those things …. But I kept it all to myself. Instead of starting what would have been a huge family argument I simply said, again, I have a job… I own my own Photography business. As in I have real equipment, a website, business cards, & yes real clients. That seem to keep him quite but he just doesn’t get it!

Why is it that my parent’s generation thinks… that if you don't punch a clock or you don’t have a nine to five that you aren't successful? That you aren’t making money? That you are lazy?

Lazy?...Lazy?!? REALLY?!?

Do they have any idea what it takes to be self made? To run your own company? Nooooooo!

No, they have no idea how hard it is to be self made...to run your own company & to want to build something of your own. You have to be self motivated & have aspirations.

They have the mentality that if you work for a company all your life that, the company will take care of you and you will be successful and not have to worry about anything. When really you are like a sheep and the only one that is successful is the company that you are killing yourself for. Why do they think this? Has the last 15 years not disproven this theory?

I understand the concept but…..it's not about the money .... I by no means, want to be on a hamster wheel my entire life only to finally retire when I am 65 years old or older and realize I was chasing nothing, because there is nothing left for me. The dream I had worked so hard for only made the company richer. To Realize I worked my entire youth away, missed moments I will never get back missed making memories and enjoying the short time we have on earth ….and for what? For money? Money means nothing. In the grand scheme of things money keeps you from truly being free, keeps you from really living life. When you die you can't take it with you. wouldn't you much rather be able to say I lived a good life and I have so many amazing memories instead of I worked my entire life doing something I wasn’t passionate about and now I am too tired to make amazing memories, too tired to pursue my passion…..This is the very reason I do what I do. I don't do what I do for the money...I am a photographer because it is what I love to do…. I am passionate about life & the way people love & grow. I am a photographer because I get to capture someone’s soul and give them a living memory of a time they can't get back. I am a photographer because if I were anything else it would smother me inside...I just have to let the world see what it is that I see the way that I see it.

If you are doing something for the money... then you just don't get it.

oxoxoxoxoxoxoxo