Photography, Anticipation and Friendships

Sunrise in Osprey Florida - LUMIX FZ1000 f3.7 @ 1/250 in IA mode

​"It's just a bad day. Not a bad life!"
Author Unknown

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​It's an almost normal Sunday morning. I'm up earlier than I'd like to be - just can't seem to sleep past 6:30 am anymore! Sheila's still asleep, and I'm typing away on this morning's post. The difference is missing Molly the Wonder Dog, but I've written about her enough over the last week. I know if I write about the experience again, I'm going to send many of you away from today's post screaming! LOL

Here's what's keeping me going...the timing of WPPI. I'm not sure I've ever looked forward to a convention more than this upcoming trip. It's got very little to do with the convention itself but catching up to old friends, making new ones and my network, which in all honesty helped me through the pain of the last week.

I've written a lot about all the practical reasons you should attend every possible convention/conference you can, but the core reason is one word, "friendships." I've already made a list of people I want to catch up to, and even though I'll wind up missing half of them, it'll be the hunt that makes a convention like WPPI so much fun.

It's also about new friends or friends I've only met in cyberspace that I'll get to meet face to face for the first time. And that's the perfect cue for - WARNING - some shameless self-promotion. I'm going to be doing two programs in the Panasonic Booth (#934). First one is noon on Wednesday and the second at 3:00 pm on Thursday. They're short 20-minute programs, each one hitting on "low-hanging fruit," easy things you can do to help your business and blogging. 

I can honestly say this past week was one of the worst and longest of my life, but it would have been even worse without so many of you, great friendships, our mutual passion for the craft and the anticipation of catching up to a whole bunch of great people this coming week. And, all along the way old photographs have helped bring so many incredible memories into the spotlight. 

It's so easy to lose sight of how good life is when you feel like there's an ugly black cloud hanging over your head, and that's just how I felt at times. When I was a kid, my Dad and I would fight over the Sunday comics every week. He loved Joe Btfsplk, a character in Al Capp's Li'l Abner comic strip. Btfsplk always had a cloud over his head running around in a perpetual state of negativity. 

That brings me right to the bottom line this morning...you've chosen a career path supported by a fantastic industry, loaded with people who share not only your passion for the craft but life, family, friendships and especially watching each other's backs! I know it sounds pretty sappy, but we're all here for each other, and once again, all of you came through for me. And, with WPPI right around the corner - the anticipation of seeing everybody has me on a terrific high! In fact, for the first time, I started packing four days before leaving!

Wishing everybody a terrific Sunday with a focus on everything you have in your life rather than what's missing. Go for those therapeutic eleven-second hugs with the people most special in your lives and while it's okay to look in your rearview mirror now and then to appreciate the memories, when you put them in front of you, talk about and share them, they become even more vibrant and unique!

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"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."
Dr. Seuss

Happy Sunday everybody...unless you're on the other side of the world, then it's Monday, but the sentiment is still the same!