scratching and scraping, and being passionate about it all

I was talking with my friend Brené on the phone yesterday, catching up on our professional and personal lives. One of the things I love about Brené is how amazingly passionate she is about her work:  when she starts to talk about the work that she's doing (at the heart of which is authenticity, as you can read here), she becomes incredibly animated:  her voice gets a bit louder, she speaks faster and faster, and you have to really concentrate to make sure you get every excited, thrilling word.  She's doing many wonderful things these days, and it's exhilarating just listening to her.

To be honest, I was just a bit intimidated.

"How's your life going?" she asked.  And I mumbled my answer:  "Oh, it's fine.  I mean, it's an adjustment not having that steady paycheck coming in every two weeks, and sometimes I feel like I'm working my tail off for not much money, but it'll get there, I suppose.  I'm certainly a much calmer and happier person for the change."

"I bet you are," she said.  And then she told me:  "You know, Karen, it took me a couple of years until I finally found my groove.  There's lots of scratching and scraping, but if you keep doing what you love, it all falls into place."

I know she's right:  it's difficult to stop focusing on the situation today, and instead keep my eyes on the prize.  And for me, the "prize" is waking up every day, doing what I love.  And as another friend says, "do what you love, and the money will follow."

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Apropos of nothing, I wanted to share an article I wrote for my weekly feature, Through the Gadling Lens.  If you're just starting out in photography and are mystified by terms like "aperture" and "f-stop" and "shutter speed," this may be the article for you:  I wrote this article over the weekend, and I have to tell you, I'm pretty proud of it -- I think it takes some of the complication out of the technical terms of photography, albeit in a sort of silly, elementary way.

Take a look.  I'd love your feedback.

Song:  That's the Way Love Goes by Janet Jackson.  I am apparently feeling a bit old skool today.