Quote of the day: “Life is too short not to start something stupid.” — Richie Norton The Power of Starting Something Stupid

Light Studies (Part of my 40 day photography challenge)

Doing What Really Matters

I started reading Richie Norton’s The Power of Starting Something Stupid yesterday.  Wow! What a kick in the derriere to move you to action.

It made me think about how certain I was that I wanted to start a photography business after I was laid off from my software engineering job more than two years ago.

I jumped in and committed to starting a photography business despite a list of reasons not to:

• Like the fact that I was just a beginning photographer.
• Or my struggle with chronic pain issues that make physical activity like photography challenging.
• Or the belief that even experienced photographers find it very difficult to make a living.

Looking back at where I was at that time, I’m amazed at my audacity and stupidity!

AND I AM SO GLAD I MADE THAT STUPID DECISION!

Light Studies

Doing what I love has opened so much joy in my life. And I am much clearer about what is important to me. My photography skills have grown. I’ve had time to pursue other interests and commit to being on the board of directors of a women’s group and join a book club, and… and… and…

This year my photography business looks like it will show a profit for the first time!  (Not a big profit, but a profit none-the-less.) As I proceed down this road less traveled, I keep learning about listening to my heart and stepping into fear and letting go of judgment.

I wouldn’t be doing this if we were not able to live without my income as a software engineer. In that I am blessed. But I remember when I was first laid off and believed the fear that I heard all around us about “saving enough for retirement.”

At first I believed that I needed to figure out how to make an income within a year or go back to work as a software engineer. As time went by I was able to step back and assess just where we were and what we needed and realized that I could continue to follow my heart and do what I love.

Rabbit near Medicine Lake

It has made such a difference in my life focusing on what really matters to me rather than buying into all of the cultural expectations about accumulating more and more and putting off doing what you love until “retirement.”

Perhaps you need to have an income and cannot afford to do what I did.

I still urge you to think about what really matters to you. As Norton suggests in The Power of Starting Something Stupid, think about what ideas you have that you would really like to do something about. Which things would you regret not doing when you look back on your life when you are 80? Those are the ideas that are worth pursuing. That’s the stuff that really matters. (And it’s probably not spending more time at the office.)

Light studies