There. I said it.

Although sometimes I am highly reactive, other times I ruminate. A lot. Typically, I have no trouble expressing my opinion (to the detriment, upon occasion). In college, while my friends would moan and groan about writing research papers, I silently cheered, for I love to write.

One of the things I don’t do well is accept compliments. Although accepting them, perhaps, is not the same as agreeing with them. I do accept them graciously, but rarely do I completely agree with someone. There are always too many ways to be better.

Yesterday I read Promoting Passion by Brooke Shaden, and it was all about “5 Actions That Make a Difference”. One of the things I love about Brooke’s blog is that she really, truly does want to make a difference in others’ lives, and she does WANT feedback and thoughts about her blog. The amazing thing is that she actually reads them and comments to almost all of them. Number 3 was to tell someone who you are. Now here comes the rumination part.

So, when asked, “What are you?” or “Who are you?” or “What do you do?”, how do I typically respond? I am a massage therapist, an instructor, a training instructor. I help run a small company. Sometimes, I tell people that I have 8 children (yes, they’re all mine) and that my husband is the reason I can do what I do. And sometimes, only sometimes, I tell people I do photography. As a post script, I usually add “in my spare time because I don’t have anything else to do.”

Why can’t I say it out loud? I. Am. A. Photo…..er. Maybe because I don’t do it full time. Perhaps because I’m not good enough. Perchance it’s because I don’t enjoy taking conventional portraits, but I love doing “weird” stuff.  It doesn’t matter that I get compliments. I have so many other roles that I have done for much, much longer. It may be that  I had to relearn photography after being out of it for a long time .

But what “job” makes me happy? Photography. I am in my element when I am shooting. Although it seems silly, I feel in bliss sometimes. How embarrassing is that, for a woman in her (late) 40s with 8 children to go traipsing about like a girl?

Photography makes me happy, like nothing else does. It’s what I would do if I could do anything.  So. Here goes.

I. Am. A. Photographer.

I am a …

Photographer.

I am a photographer.

There. I said it.

← Previous post

Next post →

1 Comment

  1. Shannon

    I love this. Now hopefully I will be able to figure out how to get back here again:)