once upon a time
…
Once upon a time, I used to blog about whatever was on my heart and put it out for the world (okay, for facebook) to see. Real, raw, personal thoughts. Was it foolish or naive? Maybe. I was a high school teenager and probably shared a little too much at times. In spite of that, I do know that I was able to reach a few people. You know, really touch them with my words. They were able to relate to what I wrote about, and were comforted by it. I miss that. I miss being raw. I miss pressing the “publish” button and experiencing the exhilarating blend of fear and excitement that comes from stepping outside of your comfort zone. I have a strange need to cut my heart open with a knife and let the blood pour onto the keyboard…and into the pages that I type. I wonder if this is normal of creative people. I want to really connect with people that stumble across my work. Going to the What’s Next Tour with Justin & Mary last week (more on that, later! ;)) awoke my subconscious to the kind of work I want to be doing. The kinds of things I really want my life to be about.
Earlier this week inspiration flashed into my thoughts as I realized that if I can lift just one soul but my own, then I know I will have succeeded.
This only begs the question: what do I write about?
How can I write about personal experiences and still remain relatively anonymous? How do I decide what’s worthy of being read with a little more maturity than that of a sixteen year old girl? Is it even possible for someone to know how she might touch another person? (Okay, I have to interrupt myself here because I realize that the question I just asked relates to an issue we discussed in one of my grad school classes this week. Hmm. I guess I am learning ;). Or what I’m learning relates more to my life than I thought.)
One of my goals for this year is to read and write more. And in writing more…I’ve started to write a series of stories. Some short, some long. Poems too. I realize that they don’t exactly belong on this blog. This blog is intended to be about my journey with photography, with little snippets of my life and the lives of the people I photograph. It doesn’t feel like a place for fiction to me.
So, I’ve decided to start yet another blog, lol. I’ll be posting stories and thoughts and things over there. This is my home for my photographs, but over there will be a home for my stories. Stories that don’t necessarily have to do with business, stories that are sometimes real and sometimes fiction, just to keep you guessing ;). Goodness, I should really stop winking in this post. Haha.
Don’t worry–you’ll still be able to read about me and see my newest work on this blog. But come Monday, I’ll be launching the other blog too. That’ll be what the next “Inspired Monday” post is about, and I’ll share the link to my new blog then. You don’t have to follow me in both places, or even at all (though I’m over the moon with gratitude that you’re reading this now and I will be even more so if you choose to read both). As Mastin Kipp of The Daily Love says, I only wish that you take what resonates with you from what I write and what I photograph and leave the rest. I don’t really plan on cross-referencing the two blogs as of right now, but we’ll see what happens. I may even end up consolidating them into one. But for now I want them to be separate. I really have no idea what I’m getting myself into, but I know I have to do it.
the blog 
So excited for you! Although, I think it would be so much more powerful to have it all on this blog. Your stories would offer such an amazing way to connect with your readers and clients. Not in a “we both like coffee” personality quirks sort of way, but in an emotional connection way. That kind of connection is deep and will show your values. It would invite your reader’s heart, not just their eyes (from your beautiful photography!) After all, photographers are storytellers, so it’s not out of place to share visual and written stories. Or at least repost your favorite writings on this blog occasionally!
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Thanks Anna! I definitely see what you mean about consolidating them… maybe I will =). I thought it would be strange to have both on one but maybe you’re right. It’s part of what makes me unique, so I should go for it. Hehe.