A few friends and I packed our bags and headed out to the Poconos for a few days off. Although we didn't get to do everything we planned, it was a great time making the best of what we had. We all needed to get away and enjoy a break from reality. My favorite shots of the week;
I have a ton of personal projects written down on paper in notebook I carry everywhere. Now that the weather is undeniably warm, I'm finally shooting again.
Ha, i heard this word "Grun" one night after watching an episode on Bad Girls Club Reunion with my sister. Maybe its West Coast, cause I've never heard the word once in New York. More or less its a cross breed between the word grinding and running. Grinding is most definitely what I have been doing ever since I began to work for myself. Although clients have been coming to me in cadence, I know I will experience rough weeks without income. Nevertheless I'm determine to continue to network and grind my way up to the top.
I was inspired by a shoot I did a while back, i hit my friend Rai up for a hilarious shoot together.
I’ve always had a motion in my mind that a person should do what he or she loved everyday. I never felt completely right there. It was helping me financially, but not helping me as a person. I was ok with that for a while, money is money. The idea circulated in my mind for a few months for various reasons. To start off, although i loved my co workers, my bosses were complete dicks and made it difficult to enjoy work. However I'm not one to let work get to me, I've learned the hard way that it surely isn't worth it.
After the car accident in September, besides the need to put less stress on my body, I worked less and pursued more of the career I aspired to. I met good people and built great clientele. It was hard to balance work, school, and my future but hey I was doing it. Two factors ignited and triggered my walk out.
About a month ago, a dear friend of mine passed away. The reason was crazy in itself and my friends and I couldn't face reality for a while. We cried continually for periods of time whether it was together or an unexpected moment such as during a final or at work. After questioning the why and expressing the it was too soon's, I began to badger my mind with thoughts. "Was he happy? Did he ever loose his virginity, did he ever get on a rollercoaster, did he ever go on vacation, do anything risky?" The BIG question stamped in my mind; If he knew he would pass on at eighteen years old, would he have lived his life differently?
But, then I thought, “If i died tomorrow, would I be content with the life i lived so far?”
I wasn’t.
It was Friday when an earlier client messaged me asking if i could do work for another client for an event. Sure. He swooped me up the next day. In the car ride over, he told me he shot weddings all last summer both photos and videos and got paid $1,000-$3,000 a day. Lowest possible income is $800-$1000. I was astonished, trying to think of how long it would take for me to make that at the job I had now. Said he needed someone to shoot with him that summer, and/or be on his team - just in case he is booked, he can send someone else. Told him he could rely on me. That conversation and the flow of the day really secured the thoughts in my mind
We arrived at the event and I shot it. It was fun, I danced around, ate food, met people, it didn't feel like I was working. After making a week’s paycheck in a matter of 4 hours, I made the decision I would put my two weeks in. PLAN: Put my two weeks in when i came to work Sunday morning. I let the other coworkers know before doing so - they are still in a group chat so yeah. At first they were a tad sad then they were happy for me. I wanted to quit on good terms. I wanted to work for myself and have more time to do what I actually loved doing. I can’t keep waiting for things to happen - I need to go out and do it.
That Sunday morning, unplanned things occurred and I ended up quitting that day.
I hope wherever I work next will cater more towards what I want to do with my life. As of right now I guess I’ll depend on inconsistent income. I don’t want work and all of its tasks to be a checklist written down on receipt paper. As corny as it sounded to my boss, I wanted to do what I loved.
Freelancing has been good and I'm creating great things now. I have more time to do what I want. Although I miss it at times, I don't regret quitting my day job.
April came and went very fast, here are my favorite photos of the month.
MY HAIR IS BLACK AND BEAUTIFUL! I love mixing things up. With my hair of course but especially in my wardrobe. One of my favorite mixes would have to be girl and boy pieces. Today i wore my CDG tshirt with a MISSGUIDED skirt and some old skool vans.
