Believing!

For those of you that have known me for quite some time, a lot of this you know already, and for those of you who don't... well an education is on the way!

  Quite a few years ago... when I was a teenager, I read a book about His Holiness, The XIVth Dalai Lama. I was interested enough to read another one, then another and ... well, you get the picture. Back then, I think I was 14 or so, I decided he would be number one on my list of favorite subjects to photograph.

   Here I go, become an adult and of course life happens. So this last few years, the kids are grown and living their own lives and I am determined to run my own company. I get back to photographing full time instead of only when I can squeeze it between kid's hockey, kid's skiing and making money (well, working 22 hours a day). I start out graduating from business school fairly quickly, get my business up and running. There was a lot of gorilla marketing, money spent on proper equipment, proper partner's to outsource my printing and framing, and business cards of course.

I get everything ready, set, um ( pause to hear the crickets chirping) ... just a trickle of business. I am set up okay to do what I need to do, so I start pushing my limits as to how do I go about getting the pictures for my top 10 list of photographs. I put out the word to the right people I was interested in working with and most of them were happy to sit for portraits and were pleasantly surprise to be on my top ten list.

I'm in Las Vegas, photographing something and someone from my top ten list and get the call that I will be the one photographing His Holiness, The XIVth Dalai Lama when he comes to Calgary in 2009. The choice was between me and Bryan Adams... (to Bryan - a good natured na-na-nana-na).

Now let me digress somewhat. While being a single mother, working myself silly just to get by, I was in a no win situation, I was pretty much a vegetarian as we couldn't always afford to buy meat. I have never been a drinking kind of girl, and let's face it, I was too busy with the kids and work to really have much of a social life so I was living like a monk anyways. So almost 8 years ago, I decided I'd do the traditional path to enlightenment so I could be 'PURE' to meet His Holiness, The XIVth Dalai Lama. After 7 years years, my dream had come to pass. I did photograph him on official Buddhist business here in Calgary, and then the next day for another function. It was definitely a highlight of my adult life and something I worked for. I always believed I would do it and I did.

Since then, I have still been getting the last stragglers of my top ten list captured in print. It is a long process and can take considerable time and effort to break through the boundaries of the top 10's staff of protectors. Let me just add, my way has been paved because I was security cleared when I was subcontracted to the RCMP. ( that's a whole 'nother story and quite frankly, it's classified ;) ) So to the average joe looking to break the ranks, it will take a much longer time and there are lots of hoops to jump through.

Now here I am just over a year later.  I worked from my blackberry and my truck before. (don't try this at home kids, I am a trained professional) I have so much happening, I don't know where to begin. I opened my own studio in the loft, I just published a book, picking it up tomorrow. No, I didn't write it. It was written by a very talented and intelligent musician that has been a big gift in my life. Then I was helping Miss Dani-Lynn ( she didn't write the book either!)find a good management team to lift her to the stars. (please check her out at www.Dani-Lynn.com ) I think we found the right people to get her where she wants to go. She has a few videos on YouTube and I believe she's on her way.

One thing I told Miss Dani-Lynn, was to surround herself with people who believe. I believe.
I promised myself I would surround myself with people who believed in me too. When I was a struggling single parent, there always seemed to be an inordinate amount of people who didn't believe. It was an uphill battle everyday, but everyday, I gained an inch. I was exhausted each and everyday, but I fought like a gladiator to gain every tiny inch. Now that I am just reaching the crest of the hill, I can look back and say I earned my place here. I am still exhausted from the battle but victorious and I look around at my 'brothers in arms' and I know I am surrounded by people who believe we have succeeded in our goals.

So my long winded story ends like this, if I can climb out of the muck and evolve into what I am today, and I still believe in the kindness of strangers. I still forgive the naysayers for not bringing encouragement and hope when times were tough. I still encourage others to reach for the stars, and I will always lend a hand to a help a cause I believe in, regardless of what I do or don't get out of it, so my friends, can anyone else.

" I firmly believe that any man's finest hours - his greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear - is that moment when he has worked his heart out in good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." Vince Lombardi - June 11, 1913 - September 3, 1970

This is my favorite quote of all time.

Hey! ... don't forget to check your Compass!
Cole