Here's My Focus for 2020 | Wedding Photographer Kansas City
Wedding Photographer Kansas City
My “word” for 2020 is “focus.”
No pun intended.
2019 was a banner year. I traveled and photographed more love stories than ever before, was given space to encourage women in all kinds of new ways, and was given room to write things that make a difference. My photography and writing style grew and changed in ways I never could have expected. I spent time reflecting on where I’ve been and thanking God for all He has walked me through.
And yet. As autumn rolled around and the holidays shifted to center focus, I found myself feeling…exhausted, burned out and just…weary. This is a fairly “normal” thing for photographers, in part because of the mad rush for fall family photos, but also because I think we struggle to put a fine point on our focus and goals.
Regardless of the reason, the result was that the thing I love began to feel like a chore, which hurt my heart so much! I count it a privilege to be able to do something I love so dearly for work, and still be able to be present and involved with my little ones on a daily basis.
So, as I reflected on 2019 and thought about what brought me to this point and how I could do things differently in 2020, I realized that throughout the past year, I did only a few things for the sheer pleasure of doing them. In an effort to correct my course this year, I dived headlong into a few year long projects with the intention that I will be doing some things I love for the mere sake of doing them…and to keep a promise to myself.
For accountability and to stretch myself a little, I joined a self portrait challenge. I also started a brand new daily photo challenge called My Daily 365 Project, as well as a new weekly self portrait challenge for photographers called My 52 Week Project.
So far, it has been a major challenge to be intentional enough to make this happen, but it it SO GOOD and rewarding. Day 3 was a major doozy, and I very nearly threw in the towel on all three projects, but it is so important to me to finish each of these. I want to keep this promise and challenge for myself, but also for my Tinies. I want to be able to look back and remember that I didn’t give up on the hard days, and to be able to share this eventual win with them as encouragement.
As an unexpected bonus, my children are becoming somewhat less opposed to the idea of a few photos every day, so that in itself is a major win!
Have you ever jumped into something for the express purpose of growing yourself or your skills? I’d love to hear how you motivated yourself and stayed the course!