Mind, Body and Soul ... A plan for a better (and happier) me!

Granted, New Year's Resolutions are cliche ... but, that doesn't make them bad nor ineffective. Having a goal, afterall, is the foundation for getting things done and writing those goals down is the best way I know to begin to develop a plan. And we all know, without a plan ... not much will get done. That's why I'm sitting here on New Year's Day taking stock of myself, blogging my goals in stark black and white ... and looking at where I want to be throughout this new year.

I think I'll call it the Mind, Body and Soul Plan.

Mind
This past year of writing ... 2010 ... stretched and exercised my mind, there is no doubt. So, I want to continue on that path, but with a few additions.

• Write: Blog more - Yes, you may have noticed my lack of blogging commitment (the last entry was April 2010) so I want to make a conscious effort to improve. Blogging is a way to express myself (even if it's only to me) and it stimulates those creative juices. Let's be reasonable here and shoot for 52 blog entries this year. That's one a week ... hopefully I will do more, but I think this is a realistic goal.
• Read: I love to read and find I sometimes put that pleasure on the back burner as I move more 'important' priorities up front. My new Nook should help improve that ... by the way, I love my new Nook and I never thought I would like this type of digital media. I was always such a hard-back book snob! But, I love it and I know this goal won't be that difficult.
  
• Learn: What I love about life is that there is always something to learn. With our business, this isn't hard. Between new photo techniques, equipment or philosophies and Web site building, html coding and other 'business' type stuff the opportunities to learn something new will be everywhere. I just need to be aware.

Body
Isn't this one of the cliche-est resolutions of them all? But, it's a real one so I'm writing it down. Of course, I want to lose weight but, more than that, I want to feel better. So, here is the plan.

• Drink: I have to get back to my water. I'm making this a definite goal because somewhere I lost that desire to reach for a water over a Diet Coke ... seriously, I need to fix that.
• Eat: This year I will learn about this whole carbohydrate thing ... this will be tough since my mainstay diet consists of pasta with tomatoes. Trust me when I tell you ... in this whole plan this may prove to be the hardest.
• Move: Fortunately, we are outdoors moving around quite a bit. But, I realize that is different from (shall I say it?) ... exercise. Our Kinect systems offers a pretty good exercise plan ... complete with a virtual personal trainer who tracks my every move through some techno-sensors that scans my body and splashes my silhouette (in all its realistic glory) on the television screen for all to see. Not for the faint of heart. But, someday I will see that silhouette improve.

Soul
This will be my favorite part. Feeding the soul is inspirational and taps directly into me. Now some of this plan may seem ridiculous but, I will not apologize for it. It simply is what it is ... and it's what will make me the happiest.

• Femme: I love being a girl ... how cool that we can listen to sappy music, watch tear-jerker movies, read romantic novels and have the opportunity to carry fashionable, designer camera bags! I will pay honor to the chick that I am by remembering I can be and do all of those things ... without regret or apology.
• Create: This may seem easy enough ... but, I have to get back to my roots and find the time to create in my photography. It's way too easy to get caught up in the business side and forget the passion that brought you there to begin with.
• Travel: There isn't a better time in our lives than when we are exploring some place with our cameras. It doesn't have to be far-off or exotic ... just away. Removing ourselves from the daily life and changing up the routine is rejuvenating ... and definitely feeds my soul.

And so this is my plan ... in all of its cliched glory ... for the New Year 2011. I've already done well ... this is the first post of my 52 blog entries, only 51 more (at least) to go. Success!

2010: The Year of Writing

I have always wanted to write a book.

Last year, this desire began to twirl into reality as we completed three book projects on flash photography for our publisher, Amherst Media. This past year was filled with new deadlines, photo shoots, revisions, guidelines, contracts ... and, of course, some writing. But, with everything happening so quickly (like our two-book deadline in December) I didn't have the luxury of paying proper homage to what we were doing ... we were so busy doing that I didn't make note of what was being done.

I was writing a book.

We are now excitedly awaiting the release of our first book, Off-Camera Flash: Creative Techniques for Digital Photographers April 1st. Our next two books, Multiple Flash Photography and Just One Flash will be released later this year.

It's an exciting time for us. But, let's take a step back for a moment.

When I said that I have always wanted to write a book I should let you in on the little fact that I have also always envisioned this book to be a novel ... full-on mainstream, relationship-based romance novel to be exact. So, this photography book thing kind of threw me a bit in the realm of my 'dream' and how I've always viewed myself. And yet I have learned a lot.

I have learned that writing a book is different than writing for a newspaper; and writing about photography is different than writing about romance ... though not much. When writing about something that you feel passionate about, you can't help but let a little romance leak through.

It's funny where a path will lead you if you allow it to. Being flexible about dreams brings about so many more opportunities and introduces new goals you may not know exist. For example, I have always wanted to have four kids. Well, I had three (Holly, Ryan and Jacob), but when I remarried I gained two more (Tara and Alexis) and now I have five — bonus!

We are now looking at a new book deal, Off-Camera Flash for the Macro Artist and that is extremely exciting. Shooting in the close-up world speaks to the very heart of my photographic passions. Writing about it can't help but be a fulfilling experience.

And now I'm paying attention.

So to mark the occasion, I have declared 2010 to be the Year of Writing.