For years when people asked me, “so what do you do?” I froze.
Lacking confidence that I had the right to so boldly claim that I was pursuing my passion in photography, I would often shy away for a safer response.
“I work in marketing,” I would say.
The answer seemingly felt more tangible and real. I didn’t run the risk of people questioning my ability or right to work in that field. After all, I had an office, a desk, a company computer, travel account, 401K, stock benefits and so on.
In truth, the fear I had was that I did not deserve to say that I was working as a photographer. Perhaps photography purists would look down on me, or others would consider it just a hobby as I was too young to actually do something of my own.
Then something shifted a few years ago. While at a networking mixer someone asked me what I did and my answer all of a sudden became “I work as a photographer and I work in marketing.”
Okay that may not seem huge – but it was an extraordinary step in my career journey.
It was not too long after that when my response simply became “I’m a photographer.” It was empowering and motivating. I have the right to work at whatever I so choose and I chose photography.
Shortly after that I had departed from my marketing job and was only working as a photographer.
So, what is it that you do? Do you have the ability to call yourself what you want to spend your time doing?
Try it and see what happens.
James Patrick
jamespatrick.com
