Best time in life....

I went to see a movie this evening... Soul Surfer.  It's the story of Bethany Hamilton - the surfer who, as a teenager, is attacked by a shark and loses her arm.  Honestly, I had tears burning my eyes from about 20 minutes into the movie until...well, up to now!  There is a lump in my throat, and I'm wondering if it will ever go away!  But I think it was even more than the movie that has moved me - but rather the whole message in it of NOT GIVING UP!  I'm 45 years old - and many people would say I've gone into business "later in life."  Well, I think this is the perfect time in my life!  I've learned so much in my 45 years that I honestly believe makes me a better photographer.  To broaden that, I think my experiences have made me a better person, a better mother, a better friend... better all the way around!  I'm better able to find perspective in the things in my life - not just fall apart every time there's a bad day - or a bad year! (oh, yes, I've had plenty of those!) So what I loved about this movie was that this young girl didn't give up!  Yes - she had days and moments that she wanted to - even started to walk away.  She had those times that she questioned how any good could come from what she had gone through.  But she held on - she had faith that if she waited long enough she would see that good.  And that is what it took me a very long time to learn in my own life.

So if you are one who would look at me and think "how nice that she has become a photographer at this point in her life" - Thank you!  There have been many lessons going on in the process of getting here, and I'll let none of them be wasted.  They will be what fuels my passion for my photography - what makes me fall in love with every baby I hold as I'm getting ready to take a photo - what makes me wish every couple the very best as I see them beginning a life together - and what makes me teary-eyed as I click a photo of an older couple who have weathered many storms in life to get to that place of being "older."  Passion is awesome -- and I am so blessed that I feel it and am filled with it!  Now... I have a photo shoot in the morning, and lots to do from now until then!