What do you love to do? How many hours a week do you spend doing it?  I have been living my dream job as a professional portrait photographer for 8 years now.  My dad bought me my first camera when I was fourteen, who’d ever thought it would lead me to my photography career years later.  Looking back there are a whole-heck-of-a-lot of things I would do different…stuff like not trading our life for a huge mortgage, keeping up with society, yada, yada, yada… But the decision to do what I love for a living is something that I’ll never regret. Thankfully I love business and marketing as much as I do photography, because owning a photography studio is more business than it is photography.

Currently, I find myself at a place of reinventing my life and dreams.  Still including photography, but now in a whole new direction.  I’m not exactly sure what direction that is yet, but I have purposely made a decision to take more pictures every week whether I am getting paid for it or not. I  am exploring  new types of photography that I had not given myself the liberty to pursue in the past. Taking  long walks, capturing seascapes, sunsets and wildlife gives me time alone to pray, think and create.  Recently, I spent the evening at a local softball game so that I could dabble in action shots. Sports photography is something I have never even given a shot before. I am still hired regularly for events, weddings and my favorite…surprise wedding proposals. These keep me on my toes, as I never know what kind of conditions I will be shooting in. I am continually grateful that I get paid for what I love doing.

Writing about this stuff makes me wonder about things like… what would I be doing if my dad had never bought me that camera? Would I have taken a similar or different path? As a parent it also makes me think about what tools I am putting in the hands of my kids and how will they shape their future.  What do you dream of spending your time on? Do you have unfulfilled desires and dreams that you want to live in real time? I challenge you to set aside 30 minutes today to pursue them. Then do the same tomorrow.