Dreaming....

I had a very nice evening tonight. I went to a play with a dear friend. We stopped to meet with another friend and went for dinner to a place I'd never been. To be perfectly honest, and this may come as a shock to some of you. The photographer's life seems very exciting from the outside, but here's the secret. It's not as pretty as it looks. I get to go to all the best parties, concerts, and shows, but rarely do I ever get to sit and enjoy them, or have any meaningful conversation with anyone. My mind is always on the work, getting the action, trying to be sure not to miss a minute because you may miss a superb shot that the client will love. The food is always exceptional, and I am encouraged to relax a bit and try a bite of this or that by my clients, but by the time I can sit down to taste anything, it's usually all gone.

My clothes are usually something simple, like black pants and black top. My attire is built to manage the stresses of a photo shoot. I may find myself perched precariously on the edge of a ladder, stage, or balcony just to get a good shot for my client and I can't have a random nail or sharp edge of said ladder snagging my Prada, so Mark's Work Warehouse is more than enough. 

Earlier this week, I was sitting in exceptional seats at the Ballet. It was so moving, I practically had tears streaming down my cheeks from the beauty of it. It was a lovely performance, but that's not what had me so emotional.

In my past life, I was a single mother. There were times we barely had enough money to pay the rent, and regular meals for me were a luxury I couldn't afford. I would go without so my children didn't have to suffer. 

As I watched the dancers float gracefully across the stage, leaping and turning like they were born with toe shoes, I remembered saying to myself in the lean years how I wanted my life to be. I had imagined myself sitting at the Ballet, watching the dancers twist their bodies into pliable sculptures, and there I was this week, doing just that. Then tonight at the Theatre watching a play, meeting my friends, going for an 'after theatre bite'. Coming home and hanging up my beautifully designed clothes in my dress closet. These were things I could have only daydreamed of when I was raising my kids alone and here I am living my dreams right now. I loved being invited to an event, and I was encouraged to come without my usual appendage, and to eat, drink, and be merry. Of course those of you that know, cranberry juice is my usual poison and that's about as wild as it gets, but the food and the company were wonderful, and I only missed my camera a little bit. 

Would I have been able to appreciate those seemingly innocuous events had I not spent so long in the deprivation chamber of single parenthood, I don't know. What I do know is, I work very hard, for very long hours, for a very long time and at this moment, I am living proof that anything is possible. What are your dreams? Are you living them?

Don't forget to check your Compass!

Cole