i wanted to share this letter i received a few months ago with you, the internet world. this letter was like a warm bubble bath hug. because let's face it, life can be terribly stressful. the fact that we need money to be some sort of happy and taken care of sucks. and starting a business with no money...it's hard!
but then you sit back and realize...you take things in stride and JUST DO IT.
in college i had a boss who would tell me "you gotta want it!". and i think that's true in all things. if you want something, you'll be willing to work hard at it and...you'll probably get it.
just for fun, to take it back a bit...
this photo is from my very first roll of film, taken with my canon rebel 35mm camera.
so check this. this is a letter from a bride's dad to me.
his only fault is that he uses Nikon...(joke. sort of)
letter starts now:
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First, I need you need to take a deep breath. You need to sit slouched in a chair with lots of pillows and your puppy sleeping in the crook of your elbow. I need your legs uncrossed and your head merely attached to your neck but just barely. Let it flop back against one of the pillows and breathe deeply for a few moments. Turn your wrists up and relax your fingers. Quit curling and uncurling your toes and just hang, fully relaxed, breathing slow and deep.
Now. I have been where you are. I have been fresh out of school and I have been deeply in debt because of it. I know the overwhelming feeling and the urgent crush of it. I know the daily waking panic of wondering how you're going to pay for it all -- not just the debt but life itself. I know. I seems nearly desperate, nearing dispair. But I want to tell you it's not. I know those are just words but they are coming from a person who knows that it really isn't desperate -- not even close!
You, my littlest friend, are so talented, you really don't know your own potential yet. You are at the threshold of your life and you're about to pass over that threshold into a wonderful existence. One where you do what you love to do with people who love what you do for them. Every day you will increasingly grow in awareness and artful design and clarity. You will see things you never saw before and capture them in a way you never thought possible. You will use your camera in ways nobody has used a camera. Sure you will learn from other people and I encourage you to never stop gathering techniques and ideas from other people -- they are a wonderful resource. But you, you personally, have a gift. A God-given gift for seeing the world in a wonderful, funny, artful, beautiful and clever way that few people see it. It's God-given! So it's perfect! And it's pure. And it's clear. And it's not confusing and darkening. It's happy and hopeful and easy.
These qualities are not had by everyone. I need you to REALIZE that. Anyone with hands and eyes can lift a camera, point it, and press the release. That is NOT photography -- not the photography YOU do! What you do is FAR MORE than photography. Do you get the disparity here? There's pictures. And then there's what you do. They are NOT the same thing. Do you get it? Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm sure you do but I just want to look you in the eye and tell you that I really mean what I am saying and you need to believe in yourself like I believe in you. The ability of someone like you is so powerful and so genuine that anyone who sees you and sees your product will automatically be sold and will tell everyone they know to go to you and hire you for their needs. Money will come to you. Money will chase you down and overtake you. Money will be the very LAST of your worries. God will bless you beyond your wildest dreams! In fact, He already HAS!!! Your talent is a GIANT blessing from which you will derive pleasure and money and relationships and travel and satisfaction and honor and joy and self-worth. It's HUGE! Can you see it? I pray that you can.
This is the message I wanted to give you. This is what I wanted to say to you. I hope you can really hear it. It's true and it's real.
Anyway, I'm going to stop now. I want you to read this email. Then go back and re-read it again -- from the top, with the breathing and relaxing and everything -- and really look inside yourself and realize you have "it" -- the "gift". You have what other people search for their entire lives and lay finally dying in bed wondering how they never found it. You already have it! I need you to realize that. Don't worry about your education loans. Those are a tiny distraction. Trust in God and you will have no trouble making money and lots of it! Believe me! People LOVE -- they L O V E -- to be charged! And when they see what they are charged for, they will RUN to bring you their money! Trust me! And they will tell all of their friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers about you! They will! Believe me!
Again, I'm going to stop now. I am very excited about your future. You are a powerful force and you are just right on the verge of taking the world by storm! Get ready, I'm telling you. It's going to happen!
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there you have it.
this letter geared me up. unstressed me. motivated me. encouraged me.
basically made me like a warrior princess leading my troops (which is a metaphor for my photography business) into battle.
and for all of you who send me these insanely encouraging e-mails and letters full of kind words- THANK YOU! you blow the top of my head open with your sweet kindness.
in conclusion,
be encouraged! be hard working. and in the words of my favourite television character barney (how i met your mother): be awesome.
