Sunday Morning Reflections - Friendships

Sheila, me and Bryan

For years I've talked about the best thing about being in the photographic industry...the friendships that come out of everyone's love for the craft.

Well, this morning I went looking for some quotes about friendships and everything I found was too sappy, even for me to share on a Sunday morning. I'm focused on the importance of friendships this morning, because in the last few weeks a lot of cool things have happened, all thanks to good friends.

Yesterday's new podcast series with Sprouting Photographer is what's on my mind right now. It wouldn't have happened without a few good friends.

First, Bryan Caporicci is a talented photographer from Canada. We talked on line and then followed up with a phone call or two and just talked about the industry.  Last spring he was in the area on vacation and being the "lunch slut" I am, I suggested we meet.  Sheila and I headed up to St. Petersburg and that was it - the start of a great friendship.

Second, Bryan had an idea for a different kind of podcast, one with more content and direction. We did a couple of Skype calls and Rob Nowell, Bryan's partner in a lot of different projects, came into the circle. The chemistry needed for any project was all there and my friendship with Bryan brought Rob into the mix.

Third, for the first episode of "Weekend Wisdom" we wanted lots of in depth content.  I immediately thought about another photographer who I met through social media, Don Komarechka. We "met" during a Panasonic LUMIX live hangout at PPE. I was a guest in the booth with good buddy Bob Coates and Don was one of three guests on the Internet side.  We talked a few times after that, we did a podcast on SCU, he did a guest post and the friendship was off and running.

Here's my point on this Sunday morning - there's very little more important than your friendships. We all have lots of friends, even more because of social media, but the ones who are always there for you, make up a very small minority. They're your inner circle, the ones who watch your back and help boost your creativity. They're the ones you can always count on to be there when you need help. And, it doesn't always matter how little or long you've known each other.

Think about your network and then that smallest group, the true friends who you know are always there for you. It's funny, Hallmark has capitalized on Mother's Day, Father's Day, Bosses Day, Secretaries Day (Now called Adminstrators Day) and the list goes on and on...but there isn't a Friends Day...Maybe it's time.

I did manage to find one quote that said what I wanted...

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Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain.
It's not something you learn in school.
But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, then you haven't learned anything.

Muhammad Ali