Twenty-four hours.
Twenty-four hours, one thousand four hundred and forty minutes, eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds.
That’s all the amount of time we get in one day.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most recent study shows that Americans work an average of 34.5 hours per week.
If that person was to work five days in a week, that would be a little over six hours per day.
We’re told that we should get minimum seven to eight hours of sleep per night. We’re told we should eat healthy and exercise three to six times per week. We’re told that we should shower every day. We’re told that we should show up to places on time. We’re told that we should keep our houses clean, our cars clean, our lives clean. We’re told that we should make time for prayer. We’re told that we should make time for people in our lives who are important to us. We’re told to make time for ourselves, and for self-care. We’re told to live our best lives.
We’re expected to do all of these things, plus work several hours each and every day, all within only 24 hours time.
Friends, I am so grateful.
I am so beyond grateful.
God has blessed me. He has blessed me with a job that I cannot even bring myself to call a job. Something that holds all of my heart and my passions within.
A “job” where I get to use my creativity, my love, my talents, and my heart. A “job” where I am allowed to capture through my lens, so many individuals I now get to call dear friends. A “job” where I allow individuals to see the beauty within themselves.
So here I am friends, sharing with you all that this isn’t a job for me. It’s a passion. And because I’m so passionate about what I do and love it more than anything, I haven’t taken one single day off. In months.
I would be lying if I said it hasn’t been a difficult season for me.
I get so caught up in working, working, working, because it doesn’t feel like a job to me. It feels like a hobby.
However, there comes a time when that catches up. And it has.
For months now I have been working over eighty hours per week (over double what the average American works), I have missed meals, countless nights of sleep, days of exercise, family parties, friend get-together’s, overslept many mornings, and have crossed many things per day off of my to-do list, yet I still feel every single day that I haven’t accomplished anything.
So today my friends, I’m asking for grace. I’m asking for grace and patience.
I don’t remember the last time I got to watch even a 20-minute episode of a TV show. I don’t remember the last time I got to bake my favorite dessert. I don’t remember the last time I got to take a nap, or the last time I got to take an evening just for me.
I’m not saying any of this asking for pity. I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I chose this life, and I choose this life. There truly is nothing that warms my heart more than what I get to do every day.
I’m only one person though. I’m one human that has a to-do list that has no ending, a human being who wants to exercise, a human being who wants to eat healthy, a human being who wants to see her friends, a human being who wants to see her family, a human being who wants to spend much-needed time with Jesus, and a human being who needs to sleep a few hours here and there.
As much as I wish I could be a robot and edit sessions and do all of my work in one night, I sadly can’t.
I pour my heart and my entire soul into what I do. I would never want to give my clients anything less than that.
So to all of my past, present, and future clients who are waiting on their galleries, they’re coming, I promise.
Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for loving me. And thank you for forgiving me even if they do take a few moments longer than you hoped. You will have them soon, and they are on my to-do list and they’re worth the wait, I promise.
I am here to tell you all that I am so grateful. I’m grateful, and I have such a thankful heart for each of you.
These next few weeks I’m truly in work-mode, and will try to get all sessions out within that timeframe.
I’m harder on myself than any of my clients are on me. Each of you are so kind, but I put pressure on myself even when you don’t.
So this is just me saying thank you. Thank you to each of you for your understanding and love. I cannot wait for you to see your images so you can enjoy each and every one for years to come.
It’s through your love and coffee alone that I’m getting me through this season.
I love YOU. xoxo
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