When I first fell in love with photography I realized how many years of my life I had spent doing things that I did not love. At first I was angry that I had “wasted” so many years. And then I realized that the timing was perfect and that nothing is wasted.
Although I didn’t love my work as a software engineer the way I love photography, I enjoyed my work and took pride in helping to create life-saving devices (pacemakers and internal defibrillators) that changed lives. My work supported our family and helped us to enter our retirement years without worries. And it used my innate skills and abilities.
“Go for it, my heart said, my heart always said.”
― Kimberly Novosel, Loved
Now I have time to play and deeply study this art of photography that I love and I don’t worry about whether I can support myself with my work.
The heart knows what the thinking brain cannot even imagine.
Five years ago I was telling myself that I needed to figure out a way to leave my software engineering work in order to pursue photography full time. Then I was blessed with a layoff from my job at a time when I was clear that life is short and it was time to pursue photography.
“What’s wrong with the world,” Nana explained, “is that people stopped listening to their hearts…
“Not everybody stopped listening,” she continued, “but enough people did to make a difference. We’ve got so much in this life that all we know how to do is want more. So we concentrate on the wrong things–things we can see–as being the measure of a person. We think if we can win something big or buy something snazzy it’ll make us more than we are. Our hearts know that’s not true, but the eyes are powerful. It’s easier to fix on what we can see than listen to the still, small voice of a whispering heart.”
Nana turned her eyes on me like a vet looking for fleas: “A heart will say amazing things if it’s given half a chance.”
― Joan Bauer, Squashed
At first I was totally goal-oriented. I felt that I needed to create a “successful” photography business. Slowly as I moved through my corporate detox and began enjoying the fruits of following the heart and not the head, experiencing joy became more important to me than outward signs of success.
Now my gifts unfold like a flower. I keep loving the art of photography and learning how much more there is to learn. As I explore I now pay attention to my heart more than my head. and I slowly comprehend how perfectly my heart knew what I needed. Now I follow joy which comes from the heart, not the head.
What does your heart know? Are you listening?
May you walk in beauty.
Note: the photos in today’s post are all iPhone photos.
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