Taking a Break

  So it's official. I've decided to take a break from wedding photography. It's a result of several factors, both personal and professional. But mainly, I'm just tired. These past six months have been the hardest of my life, and to be honest I can't think of anything I'd rather do less than photographing weddings at the moment. Don't get me wrong. I love weddings. I absolutely love them. I love the excitement and the beauty and the emotion and everything involved in being part of a day that is so incredibly special and sacred in a couple's life. And because I respect my role as a story teller, I recognize that I am not in a place to do my absolute best work. So, I've given myself permission to step back, refocus, and regroup. I fully anticipate that I will return to wedding photography. I'd be absolutely shocked if I didn't. My hope is that as I spend my creative time and energy in other areas, that my photography will have new life breathed into it, and I can come back to it with a fresh perspective. I want to be excited about photography again. I want to look forward to upcoming jobs and enjoy brainstorming new and fresh ways to capture people's unique story and tell it in a way befitting just them. I believe with all my heart that that's what they deserve, and until I can offer that, I need to take a step back. I'm starting this self-imposed sabbatical with both excitement and reservations. Finances will require some adjusting, and I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do next to be honest. Textile design has been a wonderful new opportunity for me, and I hope that this break will allow me the time to expand that part of my business. And on the purely personal side of things, I'm really just loving getting pencils and paint back in my hands. I've needed it more than I can say. I know now, better than I ever have, that I don't have to choose between photography and other types of visual art. I just haven't done a very good job at balancing my time and making room for both my own creative expressions, and working professionally to tell someone else's story. Being self employed in a creative field it's easy to let all that energy go to business and not prioritize any time for my own personal non-work projects. That's a huge goal for me right now, to learn to manage my time better and prioritize my own non-work. I think that as I do that better, it will probably benefit both my professional and non-professional artwork. So, with a sigh of relief, as a birthday gift to myself this year, I start down an unplanned side road, excited about what the detour might lead me to.