be inspired

What inspires you?

That's a huge question, I know. It's one that has been on my mind in one form or another for weeks now. It seems like with the start of a new year my mind has been running wild a bit, but in good ways.

I love the feeling that you get after watching a great movie, hearing that certain song on the radio or listening to a great speaker. You know that feeling...the one that makes you dare to dream, smile, have hope and gives you a warm and fuzzy burning in your heart. Well I do and I love that feeling! I think that we as a whole don't get to experience it enough or don't let ourselves. I want to change that for myself.

As a photographer I am very hard on myself! I need to stop this!! I am me and that is enough. So I decided to go back to what inspired me to become a photographer in the first place. My kids! They give me all those good and heart burning feelings!

Just one little kiss??This may be a new favorite of mine. I love the black and white version!
I don't think that it's healthy to idolize someone or something, but I do think that it's OK to draw inspiration from them. A new goal of mine is to blog at least once a month (maybe more) about something or someone that inspires me.

I'm not going to worry about what others may think or be too hard on myself. Life is way too short for that! What matters is how I feel at the end of the day about what I am doing. Am I happy with it?

Someone who inspires me shared a great article about this very thing last week and hit me like a ton of bricks. The article said...

"It's a new year, and I have been thinking a lot about this. There was even a long, rambling rant all written up, but I just spiked it. I'll save you the reading time by condensing it down to this:

Don't try to please everyone. The more worried you are about pleasing everyone else, the less likely you are to ever please yourself. Nor are you likely produce anything truly interesting or develop any kind of a personal style worth having.

That applies to your lighting. But it is also true for your composition, your choice of subject matter, your cooking, your performance review, your haircut -- whatever.

If you are not getting the occasional blow back, you are almost certainly playing it too safe and worrying too much about what others might think of your work.

The important thing is, what do you think of it?"

You can find this article here.

So I ask again..."what inspires you?"

Don't be afraid to be your own inspiration!!