I'm glad I love learning, because I am learning a LOT.

I could make a list, but it would be very long and probably somewhat boring. Instead, I will summarize: it is much more fun to take action while you are putting plans together than to try to hone the plan to perfection before you ever take the first step. (Wordy? Yes. But the beauty of written language is that you can read it again if you don't follow. A cliche won't do here.)

This is new to me. The fact that it's new explains why I am 44 years old and just now giving selling my photos a try. As a reflective person (with anxiety issues to boot), I have always been much more willing to think about something ad nauseum until I finally just feel bad about myself for never having done it, and then I don't ever even make an attempt because I'm convinced I am not going to succeed. Instead, right now I have prints hanging in a cafe, a ready inventory worth over $1500, a sales rep(!) and high hopes.

One doesn't plan to find a 200+ degree rainbow at the
Lowe's parking lot, so it's good to stay open.

It seems odd to consider myself someone who does not normally jump in, given my impulsive nature. In some ways, I am happier not pinning things down so I can be free to interesting opportunities as they come along. Planning or not planning my weekends is one example. My husband is a planner and feels more comfortable when he knows what's coming. I suspect he may be more focused on having a plan than he is on what the plan may or may not include. When we first met, his drive to plan often trumped my reflective nature and before I knew it, he had planned whole weekends. He always ran things by me, and I agreed because they sounded good, but I was never able to formulate and express my own thoughts in a timely manner. As the months went by, I started to see the pattern and was able to, early enough, ask for some planned "unplanned" time and I felt better.

So, action during planning, for me, has been new and good. I have also learned that I should not label myself, as that is limiting. I am both reflective and impulsive, and that's ok. I may be successful as a part-time photographer and I may not, but I am certainly on a more direct path to finding out now that my work is getting out there. My plan (since I CAN still plan while also doing) is to keep doing and also to develop a parallel stream of planning time, when I will continue to examine my niche as a photographer and learn more about photography and business as I go.

I am so looking forward to it!