You know it’s a bad sign when you go to add a new blog (in June) and the last post you wrote is titled “The Best of 2018”. I’ll be honest - I’m probably overly sensitive to making sure that the content I write for you, be it in here or in the newsletter (that is equally as infrequent), is relevant to you and true to my business. I constantly have a stream of thoughts I’d like to write about and decide that it falls more into the category of personal journaling rather than anything that would interest any one of you. However, one thing I can’t stop thinking about lately is the balance of summer, business, and family. Anyone else?
As I write this, it’s been about a year and a half since I decided to start my photography business. I remember trying to think of what I wanted out of a photography business. At the time, I was a full time mom with a four year old and a one and a half year old. I had been subbing very infrequently and realizing that all that I loved about teaching was lost in subbing. It was a great way to put on a different hat and to make a little extra money from time to time, but the daily connection with kids and their families was lost. Furthermore, scheduling childcare was hard, often due to the last minute nature of subbing. So after some photography classes, practice, and a whole lot of encouragement from friends and family, I decided to turn a hobby into something I did professionally. All I was hoping for was something that would be at least as much as what I was making subbing. (I could talk about how I should perhaps set my goals a little higher, but I’ll leave that discussion for another time). What has resulted from this dream of mine has amazed me and humbled me. I hardly feel like I’ve had a moment to catch my breath and the thing is, I’m totally fine with that.
This summer, during what some might consider the busiest season as a photographer, I’m feeling torn between wanting to dive in head first into every opportunity that this season brings as a photographer and also wanting to just stop and take it all in. This fall that four year old I mentioned earlier is heading to Kindergarten and my daughter will be in preschool two mornings a week. I am continually mystified by time. How does it go so fast and how in the world can I slow it down, just for long enough to remember it all when the days come that I long for these days in my motherhood? I actually don’t know the answer, so if you do - please share! All I can do is to document, to stop and savor, and to keep doing that for each one of your families.
I have put the “marketing and advertising” aspect of my business on the back burner as I’ve taken a bit of time to be more intentional with my family. However, I’m still here. I’m still booking sessions…I’ve just been scheduling a few less than my normal each month, in an effort to soak in every last second with my kids before they head off to school in the fall and leave me with a house that is uncomfortably quiet for a few hours each week. And to you moms who have dropped your child off at Kindergarten to leave you for five days each week - and you transitioned well from that - please do tell me all of your secrets. I’m trying to gear up emotionally for the fall and I’m already fairly confident that I’m headed for a certain emotional disaster. I will be booking some mini sessions in August at Wild Hearts Farms as well as some at Fort Steilacoom - so if you are wanting to take advantage of this beautiful Northwest summer weather and get some family pictures, please stay tuned. I will be sending out dates in an upcoming newsletter - so if you aren’t subscribed to my newsletter, now would be a great time!
So here’s to this summer that we’ve only just begun. Here’s to dinners out on the patio, to kids up too late, to corn on the cob, and berry-stained faces….cheers. And in those moments that are a bit less romantic? In the sibling bickering, the chaos, the crazy schedules, and everything in between, may we have the gumption to stop and savor anyways. Happy summer, friends.