“Slow down, take time, allow yourself to be wildly diverted from your plan.”
- David duChemin, Within the Frame
Do you have a plan?
Do your friends have a plan?
Have you read a book about a plan?
If you're like so many people I've spoken to recently, we're surrounded by a myth that says everyone has to have a plan. A tight, artisanal farm-to-table, bespoke-styled plan with just the right mix of carefully curated serendipity and chance encounters. Stirred not shaken.
I too was one of those people. I'm probably still mostly one of those people but I've also chosen to have less of a plan and more of a path.
I made the change in part because I had to, but also because in that moment, I realized I was the force stopping myself from trying something bold. I was the block that was holding me back from doing more of my art. I was the barrier from doing more of the thing that brought me intense joy and satisfaction.
The path I've chosen is not special, but it's most certainly mine. That was my first realization: I was looking for something "special" when what I wanted was there all along. I found it in my work at the DOE and in my photography. I help people rediscover the connections, beauty, and knowledge around them. Whether it's dealing with data, teasing new flavors out of food, or discovering the shared humanity in the neighborhood through photographs - that is my path.
I'll share more about this journey in posts to come. Thanks for joining me.