Currently The Rocket Scientist and I are on vacation in Park City, Utah. Several posts will run while I am away – and I will catch up in real life when we return to the desert!
This week I arrived in Salt Lake City for the Click Away Photography Conference. The conference started on Thursday and I arrived on Wednesday morning to head up to Logan and visit a boutique (AdornIt) for some chatting and shopping.
Salt Lake City LDS Temple
I am actually writing this post on Thursday night, following the first full day of sessions at Click Away. I am staying at the Marriott Salt Lake Downtown at City Creek (I have an amazing view of the Temple and the Capital Building from my room.
Utah State Capitol Buiding
No matter your beliefs, the buildings are amazingly beautiful.), and I’m experiencing this entire thing alone…alone in the midst of 1000+ other women. I think I’ve mentioned that I don’t do things alone…not like this. I’m very proud of myself though; I’m actually doing this all by myself, and I’m doing great. I have eaten dinners alone, lunch alone and I really have only chatted with a few women in classes and outside while waiting. It’s ok…it’s really the way it a meant to be this time around. I’m learning that and seeing it quite clearly. If I were here with someone, or making connections left and right, I wouldn’t be able to hear all that is being spoken to my heart.
The Keynote Speaker this morning was Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love – one of my favorite all time books and movies). I cannot even begin to explain how her words impacted me today. I was literally holding back tears (somewhat unsuccessfully, I might add) while trying to type as many notes on my phone as my fingers could punch in! So many points were made that we, as women and artists, needed to hear.
Some of the take-aways from this brilliant woman were:
- Creativity and fear need to coexist – but never let fear make the decisions. It can go along for the ride – but it needs to sit in the backseat and keep quiet.
- Before creating was hijacked by the high arts, everyone was a maker.
- Self-doubt continually asks the question, “Who do you think you are to make that?” We need to talk to that voice like a hostage negotiator saying, “I am a child of God, and entitled to create. Now step away and let the girl go.”
- Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them.
There were so many more – my brain was swimming with all of these things that I so needed to hear, and I know God has been trying to get them through my head, He just used speakers at this conference to deliver them at the perfect time!
It dawned on me, in the midst of my second session of the day, that God had been trying to get my attention for some time. He had opened door after door for me to walk away from my full time office job, but I either pushed them closed, or walked right past them because it didn’t look the way I thought it should. So, He allowed me to walk through some not so pleasant days towards the end. Now I need Him to carry me as I heal from the wounds brought on by the past several weeks – I missed a lot of happy because the open door didn’t look the way I thought it should look.
How many open doors do we walk away from? How many blessings do we miss? How many happy days do we forfeit? All because thing don’t look just the way we think they should look.
I know this is a spiritual and ‘depthy’ post…but this is who I am and part of my journey as I prepare to move Snigglefirtz & Me down this path that is placed in front of me. I might not always know where we are going, but I do know Who is leading the way! I chose the photo at the top of this post because it means so much to me. It’s not technically amazing…it has a ton of things that are wrong and rules that are broken. I’m ok with that – because I shot it for me…and I shot it over 3 years ago, when I was just starting. Little did I know it would come to represent so much to me all these years later.
More posts to come as I process through all of the knowledge I have received at this amazing conference (who knew that a photography conference would lead to life changing epiphanies!?)! I am excited to begin this new journey that is meant only for me.