So there are a lot of new things going on in my life right now. I have been doing constant researching, reading and listening on so many topics I could not adequately list them here without going into extensive detail and I don’t want to bore you. I will say the being a photographer in Oklahoma is not easy.
One of the main things I am doing is working on my website development and coming up with topics of value to talk about that my friends, fans, clients and loyal supporters might appreciate. Some of the topics will be about art and photography while other might go into philosophy, business and success principles. For the past few years I have been mentoring students and my friends children on art, modeling, what little I know about fashion and more recently what I am learning in business. I do not want to be hypocritical, because I do not know everything. There is plenty of stuff that I have learned to only realize that I have just begun to touch the true surface of the realization and potential of my studies.
They say that only a small percentage of people truly apply themselves in life and if that is true then what can myself and you really be capable of? What dreams have we pushed to the wayside while settling for things that only give us temporary relief from the stresses and demands of life? Is there really a different pattern of thinking that the truly successful people have and that of the average population? I think there most definitely is. The average american is between $10,000 and $20,000 in debt and not the good kind. No wonder we have problems with the national debt. If the average american is in debt, maybe there is a problem with financial literacy and education in this country and others. I get tired of hearing about people complaining about the rich. Many of them get tax breaks because they provide jobs for people and a large percentage of their money goes to charitable donations as well. I could go further into my thought process on this but we will leave that for another day.
Anyways, as I said, I am working on updating and retrofitting my webpages. I am working on better educating myself in business as well so I can be more financially stable to be able to do some of the bigger and more creative projects that I want to do. I am one of those people that you might hear me talk about that complained about others achieving things while they supposedly struggle. More than a year ago now, I came to a revelation that I needed to do something different and I have been reading and studying every since. I am putting my acquired knowledge into practice so I might gain more experience as well.
Now while I have been successful in many areas in the past, I was not as successful as I could have been. I think be the whims of artistic inspiration and wonder I was the fly by the seat of my pants kind of person. The problem is that there is little to no foundation being built in that kind of mentality. When things began to tumble and fall, I could have blamed others for pushing on the walls of my endeavors but the truth is that if I had build a proper foundation first things would not so easily fall.
I have done so much photography and art for others for free or nearly free that I put myself in a horrible place financially. So much so that when my car quit working or my camera broke I was not able to fix either. So many people in the various industries want artists and photographers to just give away their work and they give very little in return. I have worked for so many people that have broken promises and also I have taken on so much that I was not able to fulfill my promises because I was trying to do too much and just simply got overwhelmed. While all this was happening I lost a dear friend and more recently my grandmother passed away. But, recent challenges have shown me just how far I have progressed in my work and philosophy, but there is still a long way to go to where I want to be.
While I appreciate my fans and the compliments on my work, I want to achieve so much more. I have ideas and abilities that I have not as of yet been able to express or manifest. Some of them take capitol, some take time, while others a proper team and others I am still working on the details. I had to get away from toxic relationships and find myself again. I have spent so long trying to please other people or fulfill what I thought was expected of me that I perhaps became delusional and distracted from what I can truly do.
You see I want to help others so that they can grow and in return I can grow as well. If I find various resources and learn enough from them, I can share them from others that can use them and start to produce results as well. If I teach, students will ask questions that I may not have thought to ask myself. There is a joy in helping one another, we must learn to be both teacher and student. Far too often, I think we all get stuck trying to play one specific role in life, when in reality we have so many that surround us. The possibilities are endless if we just learn to apply ourselves properly and that is what I am endeavoring to do.
