On the road of inspiration.

This past weekend, Tabitha and I had the awesome opportunity to take a road trip to Atlanta to feed our creative fires and get inspired. Whenever an opportunity like that arises, I jump on it. No questions asked, because I know how important it is to feed my passions and break my daily routine.

So this weekend, while we were at Jeremy Cowart's Lifefinder conference we had the opportunity to glean wisdom from someone experienced in our field. Jeremy is a very well known commercial and band photographer, he has had a very successful career in both photography and design. That in itself makes him a good teaching candidate, but the best thing about Jeremy is the heart that he has not only for the field of photography and pushing those of us who call ourselves photographers to be daring and original, he also has a huge heart for giving back. He has started an organization called Help Portrait that is all about sharing love and capturing memories. Jeremy spoke about giving back, using our talents in order to make the world around us a better place, and how we can use our platforms to give others a voice to the world. The concept is simple, but the impact that it has had on thousands of lives is as complex and as deep as they come.

I wanted to share this because, we were challenged to stop saying “everything’s been done before.” Sadly, this saying is known by all of us. It is the most used cop-out , that we as adults choose as a defense mechanism when we are being called out on our laziness and lack of imagination. An original idea doesn’t have to be huge, it just has to be yours. One of the slides Jeremy shared was, “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” I loved this quote and I wrote it down as one to keep in mind. Failure is scary, but you have to face that fear in order to experience anything worthwhile.

We are all in different fields, our schedules during the day play-out in a vast number of ways; that being said there is something in our day, in our lives that we can make our own and make the choice to do differently. We just have to start thinking outside of the box. The best way to initiate this change is to do something that inspires you. Change your route to work, treat yourself to a good book, go to the theater, see a live band play, right down your dreams, take a class, etc. There are an endless number of ways that you can find your inspiration. Once you've found it, run with whatever amazing thing comes to mind. Embrace your imagination and start using what makes you so special, with others. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” Jamie Paolinetti

We all experience burn out, we hit a wall where we feel as if we can see the color draining from our lives and our purpose gets clouded with all the fog that fills our days. When burn out hits, it is time to be proactive and get inspired. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

I hope you take this post as an encouragement to go out and find what inspires you. Once you've found it, soak it in and get ready to live it out.

I hope you all have an amazing Tuesday!