In Part 1 of the “how to follow your dreams” series, I talked about the importance of just taking the next baby step.
In Part 2, I’m discussing thinking outside of the box.
For the past few months, God has been asking me to write down my dreams, and for some reason, I keep putting it off maybe because my dreams scare me, I don’t think they’re possible, blah, blah [insert fear based excuse] etc.
BUT the other day, my perspective really changed as I was photographing my nephew wearing a traditional Ugandan kikoyi shirt and baby GAP jeans. I saw him reach for the window and being so close but not quite getting there. The door was clearly closed, but he kept reaching for it. Interestingly, he was fixated on this one way to go outside and play.
It reminded me of myself and what God had told me to do. Wedding photography is a competitive industry, and it’s easy to look at the same things, ways of doing things and for everyone to focus on getting the right shot, editing, marketing, getting published the same way, basically reaching for our dreams using the same path. BUT what if there’s another way to get there? What if God has something much bigger planned for each of us, but all we can see is what’s in front of us?
When you’re following your dreams, it’s important to think outside the box, to stray from the path everyone else is running towards, to turn around and explore another route, option, path and to write out your dreams.
Just like my nephew, I turned around, wrote out my dreams and was surprised to realize that I don’t have to chase the same path as others to get to my dreams. There are no boundaries. I can photograph a couple from a completely untraditional angle, to overexpose or underexpose a shot and see what happens, to decide which type of weddings or portrait sessions I’d like to shoot more or less of. I’ve decided I’d like to be an inspirational speaker. It’s so refreshing to expand the pie and to dream even bigger. As you follow your dreams, I encourage you to expand the pie and to dream even bigger. I promise you’ll be pleasantly surprised and delighted by the new ways of thinking and doing.
