Some of the window displays were simply divine. Look at the colours!
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Parisian cafes / Paris details
I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us if you want to get inspired with your own pattern designs!
Today’s shared story comes from Stacy Chizuk who has a background in social work and a passion for photography.
Doing what I love is like unplugging from time. When I step into my creative self, I am not bogged down by thoughts of “to do” lists or haunted by plaguing “what-ifs” or the self-destructive “shoulds”. When I do what I love, that ticking clock in my head stops and a joy emerges that I often forget dwells in my soul.
I picked up a camera when my first son was born six years ago and I never put it down. My Canon is always thrown around my neck, riding shot gun in my car or stuffed down inside my diaper bag. I started with a basic point and shoot and have gradually upgraded throughout the years. My grandfather was a photographer and on his deathbed five years ago he asked me to carry on the tradition of photographing the family. I agreed wholeheartedly. Growing up I never understood why he would take my sister’s and my photographs so often. We would groan and hide from his large Nikon lens, especially during those awkward pre-pubescent years (picture the 80’s hair coupled with heavy black eyeliner). Then after the birth of my first child I understood. I appreciated the desire to capture a moment of time. In capturing that moment I discovered the challenge to comprehend the magic and mathematics of the light, decipher the mechanics of the camera, and to gaze through the lens as if my own kaleidoscope into the world. I became addicted.
I left the field of social work after giving birth to my first child. However, I still wanted to give back in some way without feeling I was losing myself in the giving. I had always loved writing since I was a child and taking the quote from a random postcard I purchased in one of those funky incense-smelling shops, I decided to “take the leap and build my wings on the way down” and I started a photography blog. My intention was to only post photos but it unfolded into a forum for me to write. I write for myself. I write to set free the incessant, sometimes humorous, sometimes solemn thoughts that camp inside my head. When I began to hear my authentic self in my words and see that self in my photographs, I discovered a feeling best described as a liminal moment. A liminal moment as described by author Rebecca Wells in her book Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, “Those moments apart from time, when you are gripped, taken, when you are so fully absorbed in what you are doing that time ceases to exist.” So I began Liminal Moments Photography.
Since starting my blog and a small photography business, I have been able to incorporate a piece of my social work self in photographing children in foster care that are looking for an adoptive family. Many of these children love the personal attention a photo shoot brings and they often are my favorite kids to capture!
Their ability to smile and shine despite traumatic childhoods is inspirational. When I see my photographs of these children displayed in public arenas, I feel both excited because the photograph truly captures their spirit, yet heartbroken because the reality is their pictures are there because they need a family to love them. My goal in taking their photo is to capture their essence, their spirit, their love. If I can do that, then hopefully I will have helped them in some small part along their journey.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves, “a woman’s creative ability is her most valuable asset, for it gives outwardly and it feeds her inwardly at every level: psychic, spiritual, mental, emotive, and economic.” When I hold my camera in my hands or free my words through my blog out into cyberspace, I feel as though my soul is being fed. I hope it touches others and helps to ignite their creative spark.
[Images courtesy of Stacy Chizuk.]
To find out more about Stacy visit her website.
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Join us for The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, – next class starts in April!
Inspiration and beauty everywhere in this magical city…
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Parisian cafes / Window shopping in Paris
I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us if you want to get inspired with your own pattern designs!
Let’s just say I spent a LOT of time in Parisian cafes. Heaven.
I think this might just have been the best raspberry tartine in the world, ever.
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris
I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us for the next course starting in April!
Paris and paper are an intoxicating combination. One particular street in the 4th Arondissement, rue du Pont Louis-Phillippe, is home to Calligrane (I literally couldn’t speak this shop was so beautiful), Papier Plus and Melodies Graphiques. The handmade paper, precision and care of display, beauty and textures on every surface, ahhhhhh it was just perfect.
Take a look…
I also love Intaglio which has shops in both the North and South of Paris.
Take a look at this fab little video from Jamie Kripke/Visa which gives you a glimpse inside Melodies Graphiques.
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Parisian cafes / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris
A feast for the eyes and stomach…
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Parisian cafes / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris
I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us for the next course starting in April!
Stole away from my desk for a little trip to Paris a week ago, visiting my first ever trade show and trying out my new camera. It was just what I needed, even though it was for ‘work’. I also had the most wonderful crazy serdipitous happening occur, but more about that another day.
All this week I am going to share some photo stories of my wanderings. Forgive me for my lack of words this week – running, running, running – and anyway, Paris doesn’t need words…
More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Parisian cafes / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris
I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us for the next course starting in April!
Today’s shared story comes from Britt Berg.
Every day I pinch myself, wondering: How did I get so lucky? Have I really been able to find a career that I am passionate about? I am so thankful that every day I get to do what I love.
What am I doing – what is this thing that I love so very much? Every day, I get paid to write about pregnancy, fertility, and women’s health. And I get to do it from home. I write health articles and blog posts about reproduction, babies, and birthing. I love this!
Before I begin, I must confess that becoming a writer was never my lifelong dream. I always liked writing, but I wasn’t the girl in high school and college who was constantly dreaming of becoming a writer. So how in the world did I get here?
I guess you could say that I let my interests, not money or other people’s expectations, or any other conventions, guide my career. In college I threw practicality and convention to the wind. I studied what I loved, what fascinated me: issues of race, class, and gender, radical feminist theory, breastfeeding trends around the world, natural childbirth, meditation, and more. I took yoga and dance classes. I did what I loved. This combination of interests led me to go on to complete a Master’s degree in counseling psychology, with a focus on yoga and dance therapy as healing methods. Yoga therapy. Yup. Sigh.
And then it was time to get a real job.
Yoga therapy was awesome, but I wasn’t sure that I could really make a living as a yoga therapist. So I took my psychology expertise and started working at Emory University on psychological research studies. I worked with great people and started climbing the ladder into upper level research management positions. But I never felt fulfilled. I always wanted more. I wanted to love my job. I wanted to make more money with the time I had. I wanted to feel passionate about what I was doing. And I wanted to feel more connected to my home and family.
There was just one problem. My husband and I had two children, and he was in over his head in graduate school working on his PhD. I was supposed to carry this family of four financially until he was finished with school – several long years later.
Patience, however, was not my strong point. I was determined and I decided to go for it. In October 2008, at the beginning of his third year of graduate school, we sat down with spreadsheets and talked extensively, planning out how we could make my dream job a reality. We crunched numbers, drew up a very austere monthly budget and saved everything we could. Three months later, I cut my research job down to part-time and I tried to get as many freelance writing jobs as I could. I attended writing workshops, met other writers for coffee, and brainstormed ways to make this work. I networked and was very fortunate to have some very big “ins” into the world of health writing (you know who you are!)
I worked part-time for a year, slowly building my writing portfolio, writing for major online health websites. That year, I co-authored my first book – the second edition of Making a Baby – a book about pregnancy and infertility. Then, right after Christmas 2009, I was offered a two-month contract writing about pregnancy and infertility that paid really well. The money would allow me to save up enough money to leave my day job. I took the leap and quit my day job. I was a writer!
During those first few months, I became pregnant with our third child. So here we were: a graduate student, a brand new freelance writer, and three small children. Not exactly the most secure existence imaginable.
Thankfully, my career was blossoming. I was busy. I was full. As 2010 continued, I was making a surprisingly good hourly rate. I had to turn down multiple writing jobs because I was so busy. Recruiters would call and I couldn’t even consider those offers. Two years after taking this wonderful leap, I am still full – beyond full. I am making a very satisfying income doing what I love.
Doing what I love isn’t just about the writing or the women’s health focus, though, although I truly love my job and have a passion for these things. Doing what I love also means that I have a better work-life balance than I was able to have when I worked outside the home. As a mother of three, this is beyond valuable. While I miss the social contact of working outside of the home at times, I am so blessed and thankful that I can make a living working here at home.
World community, I believe that it is possible for you to go out and achieve your dream job. I am living proof that you CAN do it. Yes, you will have to make sacrifices. Yes, you may have to give up many things that you enjoy to make it happen. Yes, you will have to work your arse off. But as I continue on this path doing what I love, I am meeting more and more people that are finding creative and fulfilling ways to make a living doing what they love. Through telling my story here, I hope you will understand and believe that your dreams are within your reach.
Every day I pinch myself: Is this really true? Am I really so fortunate to be living my dream? Do I really get to wake up every day and do this job that I love? Thankfully, gratefully, miraculously, yes! YES! It is real, and it is so wonderful.
So think about what it is that you love, what it is that moves you, what it is that drives you…
…And do it.
[All images by John Berg.]
Find out more about Britt here and get your copy of Making a Baby here.
Today’s Do What You Love interview is with Andrew Ooi, a Canadian ‘free folding artist’ who creates exquisite works from paper. I am slightly jealous of Andrew as he has exhibited at the ‘World Washi Summit’ which sounds like my idea of heaven! I delighted to be able to introduce his work to you, and get a glimpse into his life surrounded by paper.
Today’s shared stories come from Pauline Leger and Janet Forrest, two inspiring women in their fifties, who are proving that the rewards of doing what you love are huge and meaningful.
We all have our own definition of success. To me, success is waking up in the morning and feeling energized and inspired to face the day.
I’ve known people with full bank accounts and empty hearts, so I learned at a relatively young age that although money can certainly make life more comfortable, it is worthless if it is earned in a way that dishonours who we are.
It took me a while to find a career that suited me. I always knew I was an artist at heart, but like many others of my generation, felt the pressure to put my artistic endeavours aside and get myself a “real” job.
I did many things from being a bank teller to a prison guard, and finally in my mid twenties, at the advice of an old artist friend, I got a degree in Graphic Design. It was the closest profession (for me) to being an artist with the comfort of a regular paycheck. After graduating, I got a job as a designer with a large corporation. The work lacked challenge and creativity – but the salary was good and overtime hours were kept to a minimum – two big pluses for me at that age – so despite the boredom and the mundane meetings – I stayed… for 11 years.
Until that fateful Monday on May 17th, 2004, when I and several other colleagues, were downsized – a fancy way to say fired. My husband and I were in the middle of building a new home and we had an eight year old son. Two weeks after I lost my job, my husband was laid off. Our worlds crumbled.
When I look back on this time, I remember a feeling of failure (although I had done nothing wrong) and the unsettling feeling of not knowing how we were going to manage. But I also remember a feeling of freedom. I had the choice all of a sudden, to DO WHAT I WANT. I had been in a corporate environment for 11 years, and although it had its benefits, I was suffocating.
I read somewhere that when we’re unable to make important decisions on our own, they’re made for us. It took me a while, but I eventually saw the loss of my job as an opportunity. All of a sudden, there was hope. I felt powerful and free to finally make my life what I wanted it to be. We always have this freedom, but money is often a great demotivator and we often stay in unfulfilling jobs for the wrong reasons.
In 2005, after much soul searching, I started a small homebased business and began freelancing. My initial reason for becoming an entrepreneur (I hate to admit) was based on fear. I didn’t want to put all my eggs in the same basket again. I didn’t want to be at the mercy of someone else’s rules, someone else’s decisions – especially when those decisions affected me directly. I wanted to drive the bus from now on and I was going to do everything I could to get myself at the wheel.
This initial fear transitioned into passion, and the passion into love, and I’ve been at the wheel now for seven years. With each passing day, I find myself more and more energized and inspired by what I do. I now divide my time between graphic design, illustrating children’s books, and teaching at a local college. I am totally fulfilled and I love waking up in the morning, knowing that I get to do what I love all day. By my standards, I am successful.
Doing what you love doesn’t mean it’s always easy, or that every day is filled with rainbows and sparkles. It means you’ve made the decision to follow your heart and you’re willing to do the work it takes to live the life you were meant to live. There are ups and downs and moments of doubt – but the rewards are huge and meaningful.
The Do What You Love e-course was definitely a catalyst to guide me towards an even more fulfilling creative life. It opened so many doors for me, and confirmed that I am indeed listening to my own heart. I am so grateful to Beth, and others like her, who have chosen to share their courage with the world and inspire us to follow our own paths.
[All images courtesy of Pauline Leger.]
Find out more about Pauline on her blog.
I am very fortunate to have spent the biggest part of my working life doing what I loved – I opened my own gift shop, and operated it for 20 years. There wasn’t a day during that time that I ever woke up in the morning wishing I didn’t have to go to work. I was able to use my creativity daily – buying merchandise, designing and implementing displays, promotions, doing newsletters… every once in awhile I even got to actually create product.
Then life changed, as it has a habit of doing, and I sold the business, or, as I’m fond of saying, I traded it in on grandchildren. Being a grandma (or Gaga, my grandchildren’s pet name for me!) is a wonderful experience, and caring for my babies while their parents work allows me to have a closer relationship with them than most grandmas get to have. But, they’ll soon be in school full time, and life will change again.
This year I will turn 60 <groan> and it has occurred to me that unless I’m thinking I’m going to make it to 120, I’m way past middle-aged and into (dare I say it?) elderly <big shudder!> territory. That means that if I have any goals or desires to accomplish anything else in my life, I’d better get to it! I like to think I’m a very young 59, (isn’t 60 the new 40?) but let’s face it, the years don’t lie!
Last year I began to feel the creative urge welling up in me in a big way. I had a vague notion that I wanted to paint, but I didn’t even know where to start. Roaming through the bookstore one day, I stumbled upon Kelly Rae Robert’s book Taking Flight. As I looked at her paintings it was as if my heart had been poured onto her canvas.
That led me to signing up for her class ‘Flying Lessons’ and to an incredible group of women, and between the classes and the support of my new tribe, I found the courage to begin a blog, and ultimately to paint. I’m still developing my style, but I’m painting. I’m actually painting. I am doing what I love!
Additionally, I’ve learned to dream, and to dream big. Kelly Rae put out a call for an unpaid internship to help her with a project she wants to do. Thanks to the confidence I’ve gained, I actually applied for the position, sent in the “audition” pieces she asked for, and just learned that I have been chosen for the position.
I have no idea what kind of adventures life still holds for me, but I’m looking forward to each and everyone of them, knowing I will spend the rest of my days doing what I love!
[Image courtesy of Janet Forrest.]
To find out more about Janet visit her blog.