I had grown up as a painter and drawer, but gave it all up to pursuit a life as a software developer because I had given into the belief that I couldn’t ever truly be financially secure pursuing the arts. I would sacrifice what I really loved for my need for security.

When I picked up photography in 2012 and one year later watched your first CreativeLive workshop, I knew in my heart that giving up software development was the best decision I could have ever made. Watching your first workshop was the second best decision. And the third best decision was to act on those desires.

So it’s been over a year now, actively creating the works of art that were always in my heart from as early as I can remember, but now as photography as my medium. I have never felt more fulfilled in my life as I do nowadays. I didn’t believe it could be possible until you reminded me to believe in that internal voice which tells you it’s so.

Coming back around to this blog post, it’s all that I have been dealing with as of lately. Because I’ve allowed myself to be true to who I am and create the works of art that I love, my plate has been overloaded. I have had the idea creeping up on me and nagging me to keep moving otherwise all my progress would be for nothing. You’re post has reminded me why I am continuing to do what I’m doing. I’m doing it for me, first and foremost, for my own fulfillment and happiness. Secondly, it’s to inspire other creatives to do what I did and be driven to pursue their passions with such disregard to anything which would compromise them.

Thank you, I needed to be reminded. One of the most powerful things in life is that internal voice which is always guiding you towards being true to who you are and if we just learned to listen to it and trust it, we’d find that life would follow us. We would no longer have to chase after life, it would come to us.

Cheers, Kate.

Wow. I need to chat with you more!

I was recently researching Social Capital and the work of Robert Putnam. I was stunned (as an ex-marketer/strategist) at how we as a society had perverted the idea of Social Capital.

Social capital has become about likes, fans, followers and influence. And some have even gone so far as to say that is a reliable indicator of happiness and success. When you dig into these arguments, you find out that their sources are in the origins of the concept of social capital.

That social capital was about caring about others and building strong communities. It was a proposed method for measuring the values and strength of a civic society.

Our loss of reciprocity and self-value seems like an out of control feedback loop that is leading to a world where we care less about those around us. That empty feeling inside when one is frantically checking a page to see how many likes you got in the past 2 minutes.

I’ll stop rambling now. Thank you so much. For the time at After Dark. For helping me find my tribe of crazy outsiders. For connecting me back to what really matters.

Sean

Love your photo above and i cannot WAIT to hear about the recent trip and when you meet your donation goal! ive been following it, you are more than halfway there!