I won’t claim that anyone ever said it was easy. 

 

But I didn’t expect the negativity from the outside when I’m actually doing it. Actually following my dreams, working on weddings, photographing beautiful couples and families and there is so much animosity towards me because “it’s not ‘real’ work” and other people have “real jobs”.

 

It’s not easy. It’s incredibly hard, actually. It’s months of famine and weeks of riches that all disappear straight back into business, education and gas for my car. It’s late nights, early mornings and backbreaking wedding days carrying twenty pounds of gear around with a smile on my face.

But there’s just one thing that makes it all worth it. I love it. More than anything in the world, I love it. I love the emotions on a wedding day, the excitement of engagement shoots. I love traveling California and beyond because people have chosen ME to share in their moments. I love the moment before a kiss, the hint of a smile after that comes with a small sigh that no one else sees.  I love the way the sunlight gleams off of Lake Tahoe in the early evening and how those same sunbeams cut across the tops of mountains, creating stunning walls of light up against thousands of pines. I love working with my toes in the sand, not wearing shoes and belly laughing when the Atlantic Ocean decides to end up all over what I’m wearing because I was paying more attention to the cotton candy sunset in West Palm Beach than I was where I was walking.

So let’s talk about following your dreams. It’s so hard. People hate. People talk. People judge. Do it anyways. Learn to save. Learn to accept help from those that offer. Learn to dance at every single wedding. Learn to love bad lighting and bad times of the day. Learn to love imperfection and nothing EVER being on time. Learn to love your yoga pants and full days of editing with dishes piling up beside you and cold coffee. Learn to juggle two (or three jobs) until you’re so busy you can’t breathe, and then remember to breathe. Following your dreams is hard work, harder than anyone ever let on. It takes patience and perseverance, but more than anything you have to LOVE what you do.

 

So today, I encourage you to keep dreaming, but to also start doing.