The Big Magic

Thank you so very much for stopping by!

Wow! I never thought I would say this! Welcome to my blog! My first blog post ever. I figured I would blog on something that is very near and dear to my heart: Creativity!

Let me just start with that I am a first grade teacher. I love teaching. It is the most challenging job I have ever had but I love a good challenge! But for the last year, I have felt like something was missing. I was dying to be creative. Being a teacher, I am able to be creative when writing lesson plans and making fun activities for my students. But, I wanted to be creative on a totally different scale. I just didn't know what though. So I began my research on "being creative" and what to do with it (I know, I'm a nerd), but I still couldn't think of what I wanted to do. I really thought about writing a children's book (which I still might) but that wasn't what I wanted at this moment. I love all types of music. I played the violin my whole childhood. I loved it on so many levels. But as the years went by, I lost interest but not so much that I completely stopped playing. I still play for my students when I teach a lesson on vibration:)

Then one day strolling through an Asheville bookstore during our spring break vacation, I noticed a book called "Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert. She is the woman who wrote "Eat, Pray, Love", so I knew this book had to be good. I downloaded it that day and I literally couldn't put the book down. Gilbert pretty much says stop thinking about what other people think and do YOU! That just opened my eyes to a whole other level!

For years, I always wanted to take up photography but was too afraid about what other people would think. Would they like my pictures? Would they think I am just some poser acting like I am a photographer? Would other photographers look at my work and think my pictures were horrible? Well, after reading that book, now I can say who cares! That's right, I said it! "Big Magic" made me realize that I have been cheating myself into thinking that I am not good enough. Well, no more of that! I am going to do what makes me happy and if I make others happy along the way, then wonderful! LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO SETTLE so go with what's in your heart!

So over the past couple of years, I practiced photography on my dog, landscapes, nature and my daughter. I was asked to photograph a wedding last year (I was scared to death but it went well.) This year, I finally got the guts to ask others to be my models. After the first photo session, I was hooked. The wonderful thing is I keep falling more in love with photography everyday. I literally itch if I don't get to practice each day. With photography, you learn something every single day. Heck, with life, you learn something new every day!

So there you have it. My little story of how my creativity came along. I hope, if anything, you read this and think to yourself what you are missing. I hope you never back down because of what society thinks you should do. Do you! It's your life.

I hope to see you on my next post!