My girlfriend, Al, recently gave me a gift, and it sort of brought things in to perspective for me. She bought me a plant - a simple, living, breathing, good looking, healthy plant. Along with the plant, she included a note, written on a business-card sized piece of paper, reading "Don't forget to feed me".
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It sort of got me thinking: sometimes we get so caught up in the running of our businesses, building new websites, developing new strategies, working on advertising and processing images, that we forget about our roots (pun most certainly intended). I mean, the reason we're doing what we're doing is for the photography, right? Yet, I've talked to so many photographers who have completely lost the passion they have for the art of photography and are doing it purely as a business. They're no longer having fun at what they are doing.
Al wrote me a note for my plant, reminding me "don't forget to feed me". Maybe we need sometime similar in our businesses, reminding us that we're doing this because we love it, not because we have to. Maybe we need to get out and shoot for fun every now and then and re-kindle that fire inside us that fuels our passion for photography. So many photographers get so burnt out that they quit photography all together. I don't know about you, but, I certainly do not want this to happen to myself. Keeping that fire going is vital.
There are so many that feel they're stuck in a rut with their business. Either they feel that they can't raise prices, they can't reach their target market, their photography isn't improving, etc. You need the desire, motivation, and ambition to push yourself further with your business and with your photography. Without the passion, there is no drive. The root to our success is our passion.
Maybe we should try writing ourselves our own little "Don't forget to feed me" note.
Anyway, just my thoughts written down. I've been really overwhelmed/stressed lately, and this sort of helped me. Thoughts?
