I sat down this week and made a list of the photography workshops I attended last year. I included the excursions that I took myself on--alone--without other photographers. While I went on fewer excursions in 2022, the work culminated in a solo show at a local gallery and the promise of future ones. I managed to photograph nearly two dozen locations, from a return to Ellis Island, an abandoned opera house in Connecticut, to San Francisco and the iconic Alcatraz, to country barns and winding back roads in Tennessee. Why am I telling you this? The Covid years brought great isolation for many of us. Some of us have lost loved ones, jobs, health, and friendships. Our hearts are heavy. In short, it's been a time of great transition. The one thing that has held and kept me steady is my art. The one thing I have been uncompromising on is getting out (sometimes just in my own backyard), with my camera, and doing the one thing I can control: my creative life.
So I am asking you, I am imploring you to consider this question: what do you love to do? (Not who do you love; there's a big difference.) What is the one pursuit, the one passion, that without, you simply wouldn't feel whole? Perhaps it's writing poetry, songwriting, painting, photography, design, or culinary arts. If you don't know the answer, take out a piece of paper, or your journal, and allow the answers to come. We are all gifted, but some of us never open our packages.
(Consider joining me in 2023 for one of my creativity courses. See the link below.)
As we tiptoe lightly into 2023, I am grateful for the opportunity to review, reflect, and rejoice in my God-given talents.
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