Inspired: In the Real World

As many of you know, I was a musician long before I even toyed with the idea of being a photographer.  But if you know that already, then you probably know that I did not stick with music because I couldn't stand to sit in a tiny little 4x5 foot room with no windows, practicing away by myself for hours on end.  I'm an extrovert people!!  It just doesn't work.  Coincidentally, as an independent business owner, guess how I spend most of my time?  Granted, the pretty windows at the front of my studio shed a ton of lovely sunlight into the space (When there is sun outside, I'm so over winter!), but at the end of the day I still spend somewhere between 9-12 hours by myself at a computer.  While we may feel like we've "interacted" with someone because we wrote back and forth on gChat or Facebook, who are we really kidding?  There is no replacement for real, face-to-face, 3D interaction.So for the past 4 days, that's exactly what I did; real, face-to-face, 3D interaction with 200 of my colleagues and peers at the Inspire Photo Retreat.  Leading up to this retreat, I was calling it a conference.  The problem with the word "conference" is it cues my brain to think I will spend 3 days frantically scribbling notes on business tips and photography tricks I have never ever heard of.  It makes me think of sitting in a lecture hall, where an expert stands in front of the room and spouts knowledge at you.  It does not make me think of dialogue and conversations that start in the bathroom and cause you to miss that workshop you planned on attending because you couldn't envision leaving the current conversation.I was frustrated for the first day or so of Inspire because I felt like I wasn't gaining that notebook full of facts and figures to take home and apply to my business.  Now, 2 days after it's finish, I'm missing my new friends...  and that's way better than any notebook.Why, you ask?  Because the truth is, running a small business is (*&!%*^%$) hard!  While the photography industry may showcase the rock star lives of many well known photographers who travel all over the world doing what we love, the reality for most of us is much different.  Here's some hard facts I would never, ever have shared before this past week:Fact: I worry every day about whether or not this business is going to survive.Fact:  My take-home salary is significantly less than starting in a bottom-of-the-ladder position at any other company.  And I work about twice the hours.Fact:  I still love what I do and couldn't imagine life any other way at this point, despite the above 2 facts.Fact: The vast majority of us are struggling - mentally, emotionally, and financially.Fact: Owning your own business usually means you have the most patient and kind family & friends, because more often than not, you've probably put the business before them.Now, I knew all of these things before this week.  What I gained this week - what was written deep down in my gut rather than in any goofy notebook - is that I'm not the only one.  Instead of posting how amazingly awesome we are doing on Facebook every day, maybe it's time we start asking real, human questions.  At the Inspire Photo Retreat, this Midwestern girl was scooped up into a world of Northeasterners who skipped the handshakes and went straight for hugs.  We skipped the "What do you charge for an album?" and instead asked, "How's your mom?"I don't know any other industry that fosters such an amazing community.  We photographers - despite the super scary, sometimes totally broke nature of this crazy world called "doing what you love" - survive because of our community.  Let me tell you, you will never hear a more powerful rendition of "Living on a Prayer" or "Don't Stop Believing" than in a room full of creative artists, busting their asses to survive on what they love.  So I return home not with a notebook full of ideas, but with a heart full of gratitude.  Thank you to my Inspire peeps for being open and vulnerable, not just as photographers and business owners, but as humans.http://vimeo.com/86583249Thank you to my Inspire peeps for being open and vulnerable, not just as photographers and business owners, but as humans.