Work is good; happy work is better

I think every photographer who is really a photographer should be able to make his/her living doing photography. Is that clear? No. Wait. I have to define “photographer” to make that better…okay, a photographer is someone who is passionate about photography and, if told “you can’t be a photographer, pick something else,” would have a difficult time finding something else to fill that immense void in her/his soul.

Better. That weeds out a lot of the wannabes with great equipment and the like of photography, but not the love/passion of it that a real photographer has.

Okay. Now that’s clear.

Unfortunately, the trouble comes when people take that idea I first listed and warp it ever so slightly to “Every real photographer deserves to make his/her living doing photography.” Me, I just don’t believe that is a good way to think.

In my opinion, no one inherently “deserves” anything; we must each earn our way. Life isn’t a magical place where if you are a good person, everything will be honey and roses. Even when we love our work, it is still work and we must do the work to get to our goals. Wishful thinking is good, but you have to act on those thoughts as well.

So, work is good. And working for what you want, is even better than you might know.

There have been studies that have shown that when a person is given something, that something loses value in the person’s mind much more quickly than if that person had earned that thing. In other words, while it would be nice to have someone hand me an iPhone just for being me, working to earn the money to buy my own at some point will mean that I will appreciate the iPhone more and for longer. I will be happier and happier longer with that thing.

Same goes for achievements in professions. Maybe even more so.
Now, happiness is an important thing, in an of itself. It seems that being a happier, more optimistic person may mean that you spend more time and/or effort working towards your goals and making relationships that help you, etc. So rather than being happy because you are successful, the opposite may be, in fact, the case.

So, work is good.
Being happy in your work is good.
So if you love what you do and you work your ass off doing it, you are more likely to be successful doing what it is you love doing which is why you are doing it so well in the first place which makes you happier which is the way most people really define “success” anyway.

In other words, stop thinking about it and go out there and do what it is you love! Take the damn pictures already, instead of talking about taking them! Make the image! Get in that groove. Exploit (in the very good sense of the word–“to use to best and fullest advantage”) that passion as much as you possibly can! Then use that fabulous stuff you’ve made, and loved making, to promote your business so that you can get gigs that pay for you to do this, more and more regularly.

*****

That’s it from me for a week. I’m on vacation for the next 7 days and will be back and raring to go a week from Monday! Happy 4th to the Americans out there!