Find Your Passion

Being passionate about what you do is so important for every aspect of your life.  As we get older we tend to lose our passion as the day to day tasks of life take their toll on us.  Mundane and routine take over and passion somehow falls by the wayside.  I am a firm believer that to live a truly fulfilling life you need to find something that you love, that you can get excited about.  This month’s guest blogger is a fellow photograpHER, Victoria Blackshear, based in Charlotte, NC and I’m so excited that she found her passion in life and is letting you all know exactly how you can do the same!

My ultimate goal was to graduate from high school, go to college, and play volleyball. However, I began dating a really awesome football player during my junior year. Three years later, we were married and now we have two beautiful children.

With two small children, my lengthy day seems to never end. My laborious day begins with the the aroma of hazelnut coffee at 4:30 a.m. I then move hastily around my home to get myself and our children ready for school and out the house by 6:30 a.m. After the initial hustle and bustle, my work day begins at 7:00 a.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m. I usually pick my children up around 5 p.m. after spending the interim time doing grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, and preparing dinner. Once I pick up my kids in the the evening from after-school care, the nightly routine begins and we prep for the next day.

When my family goes to sleep, and the night grows quiet, my mind is still awake. I am wondering, “What did I accomplish today? Did it bring me happiness? What did I do for others? Lastly, I wonder, “Did it leave me passionate, on fire, and ready to try again?”

Two years ago, I received a phone call that changed my life. My father asked me, “What are you passionate about?” During my moment of total silence, I considered sharing my love for my family, the bond that my twin and I share, and my love for words. Instead, I inhaled and searched my heart, and exhaled the truth. My response to my father was that I loved photography, and all things beautiful. He responded by simply saying, “I’d like to help with that. Two weeks later I received a Canon Rebel T5 accompanied by two kit lenses.

That camera ignited a fire in my soul. Does that mean that my husband and children aren’t enough to keep me busy? Or that the ups and down of motherhood don’t wear me out? Absolutely not. It simply means that outside my daily routine of life, there lies a deeper passion within me, a gift. I believe that we all possess a gift, that if awakened, it could drastically change our lives. What becomes of our gifts: My answer…passion and purpose for life.

What is your passion? Passion is a feeling that sets your soul on fire. Passion keeps you up at night and wakes you up early. It is the very thing that your mind wanders to and lingers on during your down time.

Where is your passion?Passion is deep within. Though it may not be visible, your passion can be felt by others. When we do things with passion, we allow the world in, we allow that experience which makes us feel alive.

Photography is a lens by which I can view the world with a more loving eye. As I capture precious pictures for families, I am grabbing special moments in time and freezing them, so they can be rediscovered as memories fad. I am creating memories that will spark hours of long conversations around the coffee table.

When I photograph an infant’s finger, a pregnant mother’s fullness, and a college graduate’s excitement, a fire lying dormant in me sparks a flame.

Photography is my passion. If my passion is not touching lives, then what’s the point? Our passion was never meant to be bottled up and savored for ourselves. Passion is to be tapped into, expressed, and released. I am in my early thirties, in my 9th year of marriage, with an Undergrad and Masters degree wrapped tightly under my belt. However, I decided to be bold and to follow my passion. I decided to release my passion. My advice: Release your passion today.