February Desktop - Foggy Winter Day

This year, Lowell has experienced dramatic and quick shifts in weather, creating a blanket of fresh snow one day only to be followed by an unseasonably warm day in which it all melts away. The result this week was a rare event that lasted no longer than 12 hours in which the sky was white with thick fog while the ground was white with fallen snow. It was the perfect day to create some new desktop images, while taking in this unique natural occurrence.  Click on any image to download a copy for your desktop.

 



 
"Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. 'Light! Give me light!' was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour." - Helen Keller

Small Business Mentoring

Whenever possible, I enjoy helping other small business owners in any way that I can.  This weekend I participated again in the annual Thirst Relief Mentor Auction fundraiser, which brings together established photographers willing to donate their time to help others in exchange for a mentee's donation to help provide clean water to developing areas.

I'm always excited to meet the person I'm working with, because I know that, like me, they have a huge heart for giving.  However, because it is an auction, there are always people who end up not winning a mentor.  Luckily there's a ton of great information out there that they can access for free if they know where to look (rather than wherever paid search engine results try to send them), which is why I created PhotoLovecat several years ago.

PhotoLovecat has become one of the regular ways I "Pay it Forward" in my business life- by freely sharing solutions to problems I've already solved in my business, so that people who can't afford one-on-one mentoring and business workshops, can still have rich information right at their fingertips.  In today's world, I feel like there's so much high quality information readily available that the only reason to pay for information is when you want one-on-one help from another person or you want the experience of being in an environment with other people who are learning the same things you are and holding you accountable to yourself.  If that's not in the cards for you right now, than please help yourself to all of the free information that's already available!

A sampling of some articles that may help you in your small business:

• Hit & Miss Email Promotions
• How to Stop Running Behind & Feeling Overwhelmed
• How to Move Your Business to a New Market
• Photography Overhead Costs (or Why Photography is Expensive)
• Charging Travel Fees for Destination Clients

What's Next 2013?

Normally, after a recap from last year, I write about my goals for the year ahead.  But how do you follow a year of traveling around the world?!  Honestly, I have no idea- it's like trying to upstage Elizabeth Taylor.  I wasn't trying to dream of something else because I was so busy enjoying every minute of what felt like a dream turned reality.   

There's no time to get wrapped up in what's next when you're so fully present to what's happening right now.

(Instagram photo taken while driving through Syracuse, NY)

Perhaps THAT is the adventure of 2013.  NOT planning ahead.  NOT trying to anticipate everything.  NOT filling life with goals that need to be accomplished or "readjusted" when real life gets in the way.  It's quite zen- to simply move through life like water moves through a stream.  Always moving forward, never backward; easily around twists, turns, and obstacles, and simply continuing on without worry for what's next or regret for the past.

Life is fluid.  We are never stuck because we can always change ourselves.

 (Instagram photo taken while flying over Greenland)

I've accomplished a lot in the last few years and followed my dreams to a point where I'm running out of things to dream about!  So this year, I have no resolutions or goals to share with you.  I'm simply going to live as mindfully as possible in each and every moment I get.  If I lose even more weight because I'm more mindful of what I eat, great, and if not, I can still be happy in knowing that I was simply listening to what felt healthy and good for my body.  If I gain more clients or take on new work because I was fully present to the requests and opportunities around me, great, if not, I will know that it was because I was fully present to something or someone else who needed my attention more. I sense that there is change on the horizon, but rather than trying to anticipate it, plan for it, or control it, I'm simply going to focus on enjoying each day as it unfolds. Finding peace and joy in what already is. I hope you will too.