I got a great question on the forum this week that I wanted to share…
“Any words of wisdom on the juggling of photography with outside life, children, pets, spouses, clients and the work I can’t/don’t want to outsouce and how to best fit it all in?”
- Ami D
Here’s what I say… Don’t juggle… Don’t try to balance (do you actually know any balanced people?)… Just stop.
Live in tension and let things fall once in a while.
In fact, just for fun: I double dogg dare you to commit to intentionally letting one non-critical thing drop this week. If you can’t, I say there’s a problem.
Stuck to know what to let go? Ask a (true) friend to point something out that objectively won’t kill you if it doesn’t get done. If it really hurts, pick that one. You’ll cuss your friend out tomorrow but in a week you’ll be buying them dinner.
For what it’s worth, I did this last week which is why I was so absent on the forums. I’m so grateful I didn’t get judged for that by the way. Fact is, I actually felt loved! My man Jack noticed my absence and reached out. It was such a gift!
My advice: When you need to walk away from the virtual world, do it guilt free. We’ll be here when you get back! That’s the beauty of living in tension… you can flex and we’ll flex with you.
Speaking of Forums, there are some amazing new communities out there that I hope you guys are taking advantage of! From Photography Mentor to B School… these Facebook for photographer sites are just amazing and some of my closest friends in the industry are behind them! They have bells and whistles that blow doors off of any forum on the Internet. They are just remarkable.
“But wait!” you might say, “aren’t these new ventures bad news for the Fast Track Community?” I appreciate the concern but rest assured it’s nothing but good!
From Photography Mentor to The B School to Triiibes to Facebook, we have Fast Track Groups/Clubs all over the social networking world and membership is rising!
But here’s the thing: The Fast Track Forums are nothing like them.
And, here’s the bigger thing: The reason we created The Fast Track Forums was not to be the latest flavor of the month for photographers. It actually exists to be an intimate community of like-minded photographers who are interested in close relationships and keeping our little world free of the Grumpies. That’s it. Pretty modest I know.
But, given the potential challenges that juggling all these cool spaces requires, those who call Fast Track home have found that intimate virtual space is pretty tough to find these days. As Seth Godin likes to say, “Small is the New Big“… this is certainly so for Fast Track.
So, if you are needing to let some balls drop and are craving a little up close and personal time with your some safe friends who will be “for you” as long as you’re grump-free, come join in the fun! If not, we’ll see you at the parties!
- Dane
