Exist

Yesterday, as I was getting coffee at the Jiffy store, as I do every, single workday…I ran into the sweet middle-aged lady that I had been hoping to interview for a 15 minutes of Fame Interview.  I told her a little about my blog, and asked her if she would be interested if I interviewed her.  She said “No, ma’am, I’m not interested at all.”  She then went on to tell me how very boring she is and that she doesn’t have anything to tell.  But in just telling me that, she also stated that she has tried to retire several times, but just can’t seem to.  She is just attached to the people that she gets to see every day…and that’s what keeps her going.

Now, I’ll be real honest here, I hate hearing the word “no.”  But aside from being turned down for an interview…I have been thinking an awful lot about why I started this blog in the first place.  I think that everyone has a story to tell.  Even if you think you are the most boring person on the face of the Earth, there is someone out there who is going to find your story relatable.   We have so much to learn from the people around us.  And that is why I first started this. 

After speaking with my friend at the Jiffy store, I was reminded of something my friend Jenn had said about photography in her interview just the other day.  “Stop. Just stop. Stop over-thinking, stop looking at yourself in that way. I swear I could retire if I was paid for every time I've heard that from anyone wanting to book a shoot. And I, legit, get it. I'm not 100% happy with how I look, but if I waited to ever be in a photograph until I was happy, I'd never be in any, and what message does that send my daughters? There is literally NEVER a 'right time' to be photographed except right now.”  “Everyone of us should be making an effort to be in portraits. To exist for our children and grandchildren.”  I think that could also be relevant about telling one’s story. 

I will leave you with a thought for the day: make an effort to exist.  In pictures.  In memories.  In stories.  Make an effort to exist for those around you.  They need that.  There will come a day when you're not there anymore, and those you left behind are going to have only those stories, those memories, and those photographs.