Procrastinate NOW, don’t put it off
28 September

Procrastinate NOW, don’t put it off

Posted by behappyadmin Posted in Life
lat32mugI was a stay at home mom with five kids and a dream. The spare bedroom became my playground AKA “office”. It was where I would create. Early morning hours, after nursing the baby, I would learn to finish an image in Photoshop, teach myself a new software system, read a marketing article, communicate with my handful of clients, or simply journal my dreams and prayers. This would take place before the other 4 children would get up and start their daily routines of getting ready for school. Sean would soon be headed out the door to face another two hour commute to work. I would carve out this time from my day before making lunches, packing backpacks, looking for lost library books, grocery shopping, preparing dinner, washing mountains of laundry…and nursing the baby again. Many days it was the only time I had to myself.
I wanted to create something from my photography, perhaps a studio. A wise friend and mentor of mine told me once about “exponential little bits”. Doing something everyday that gets you closer to your goal. Baby steps. I did this every day. Within a few short years, my basement hideaway had grown into a 3,000 square foot full fleadged portrait studio. The small handful of clients that I would write to had expanded to hundreds. I struggled to find words to type in my limited time. Blogging and writing had become a chore. With in a couple years, Sean joined my business full time, one of the first duties that I unloaded onto him, was compiling our monthly newsletters, blogging and anything else that needed written words. Sean continued to handle this duty for me for the next 7 years. This was a huge relief to me, except, that I stopped writing all together. Empty journals gathered dust and ink dried inside of pens without ever expressing a word. When I turned off that faucet, I turned it off in every way possible. I have known for years that I needed to come back to my beginning and start writing again but how easy is it to just put it off.

Our decision to pull up our roots and start over again nearly two years ago has given me time to clear my head and reflect on what matters most. I was able to slow down enough to ask myself what do I enjoy filling my days with?  How can I embrace each moment with what and who I love. About a year ago I began writing again. Mornings of ocean salt air and sand became therapy to my soul. Once again I have journals filled with ink and stained with more than a few tears. I try to blog more frequently and now with the cooler off-season upon us, I am devoting more time to sharing.

I have decided to take back the keyboard of Wen McNally Photography so that I can share some of the new stuff that is happening in our life and business. (Sean will be creating his own emails for his growing business too) We still travel back to Virginia several times a year for portrait sessions, shooting weddings and visiting family as well as teaching photography workshops to those wanting to learn from us. I hope that you want to keep receiving our life updates and information that we want to share on photography and taking your own pictures. I have many new tricks and tips that include cell phone photography and learning to use whatever camera you have with you.

I look forward to sharing with you and I hope that you will continue to find this communication beneficial. Please feel free to send me an email with questions you may have regarding photography or reinventing life. If I don’t know the answer, I hope to point you in the right direction. If you are not on my email list yet, please add your name and email address here.

All the best,

Wen