Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, by Brene Brown, really helped me to break free from fears I had about business and the relationship I have with my clients. Brene is a research professor at the University of Houston who has spent the past sixteen years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy.

One of the biggest things about being a successful entrepreneur is being able to prioritize tasks. Working from home is tricky. Especially if you used to work for someone else and in a location other than your living room. Since moving to NY and getting settled in, we made the decision that I would work in the home. That being said it is much harder to create a routine in the day-to-day and stick to it. Feels like you are on vacation when really you aren't. I have to pinch myself to snap out of it.

Having a fancy camera is great. Taking the plunge and getting the best gear was the best decision I could have made for building my craft. My travel packing list will give you an idea of what I have, if interested. At the same time, one of the most influential ways in which I really learned about light and shooting differently was by using my iPhone. Yup. I am completely unconventional and after taking one digital photography course, I decided to teach myself everything I know (that doesn't discredit going to school; my favorite photographers went to art school). 

A web designer is someone who wraps up your dreams in a pretty package on the internet. There are so many things that go into making a site perfect. We all know that looks are important, but so is communication and easy to use navigation. A web designer spends hours researching and thinking about better ways to make the online experience more enjoyable. They live and breathe it. Kinda like how you might live and breathe your products, services or blog. 

So I debated sharing this, but I thought what I learned from it could help others too. About two weeks ago, my external hard drive with all of my photos on it, DIED. I had been meaning to back up everything onto another one and even online, but I didn't do it. I was too busy. It made me cry crocodile tears and it felt like someone important to me had died. All of my work, as well as my memories, were gone.

Lately I have been feeling like I have 5 arms that are getting stretched to the max. I love details and giving 100% to what I am doing but at the same time I feel like I am getting no where. I think I spend about 50% of my days at home worrying about getting everything done and feeling accomplished. My brain is one big fuzz pile. If a brain could be fuzzy that is.

Growing up I always had an aversion to being fake. Anything and everything that smelled of it made me run. So when it came time for posing people in front of the camera, I used to panic. My mind would freeze and I would find myself saying "ummm" "uhhhh" and looking rather unprofessional. I tried to stick to just candid stuff like events, but something deep inside was telling me that I needed to get over this.

Perspective is everything. Especially for artists. You can influence a lot of people just by how you see things. But what is it like for the artist? How are we influenced? What makes us see what we want others to see? Here on this blog, I will occasionally share thoughts that are rather contemplative.

As a creative person, I face inspirational ruts quite a lot. I get down on myself for not having a well of ideas springing forth. Maybe you don't feel like a super creative person, but you still need to get inspired or motivated to work, thrive, exercise, or to just do something relaxing. Maybe you just want to get excited again about something. I thought I would share a few ideas that might get your inspired juices flowing.

Travel is a big part of our lives and it is something that I enjoy. The only thing is that travel can be tiring and if we forget something, it doesn't make things any easier. As a photographer, I like to bring my gear with me when I am either on vacation or doing work. I like to travel light and with just what I need. I thought I would share with you today a few things that I bring with me.

Right now I am in a transition with my photography career. I am no longer sitting in the unknown wondering how in the world I am going to make this dream real, but I am also not on the other side of things calling it my full-time job. At this point, things are just becoming real and I can still taste the unknown with excitement. I was thinking that it would be a good time to write down a few ways that got me to this point so that I might encourage some of you to take on your dreams and make them happen.

What is it with writer's block or that creative slump that gets us? Maybe you don't think you are creative. Just think about anything that you enjoy immensely and think about the times where you have experienced burn out. How does that make you feel? Don't you just want to pick up and move on? Isn't it hard to just sit there and not be able to get the ball rolling with ideas and plans?