If you are anything like me, or like our three SOAR! gals, you want all your ducks in a row before you take a risk. You want to not only do your best, but go above and beyond the call. But sometimes, even though it pains you, you just need to jump with what you’ve got.
Throughout this year, the SOAR! gals have been pushed to meet milestones and assignment deadlines. And I think I’m representing them accurately when I say that there were a number of times when they would have loved more prep time, or a redo, or even a rock to hide under. But part of my vision and heart with the SOAR! Scholarship program is to not only give three women amazing partnership prizes and inspiring business coaching, but challenge them to jump, then jump again, then jump again and again, whether they are ready or not. My hope is that the practice of jumping is a little bit easier by the end of this year, then it was when we first started in January. At the end of the day, to many of us talk ourselves out of jumping with all the BEST reasons (not the right time in life, we’re not the right person, we’re being selfish, we’re not that good, what if we fail and waste all our supports’ time and energy, what if we realize we are not meant for any of this…all familiar voices I work at ignoring).
If you are waiting to approach the ledge and NOT hear those voices…if you are thinking that the silence will be your confirmation that you are finally ready to jump…you will never jump.
I know it was hard for Jennifer to move forward with this week’s SOAR! exercise, but the photography exercise wasn’t as important as the practice and re-practice of jumping b/c what she learned, what she survived, how she fought past the voices screaming in her head, how she walked past the rocks that bid her a welcome hiding place…this is what SOAR! is about. This is my heart for her and all of you. Will you join me today in the comments by letting Jen know that her jump was more than worth it? (Jen, you are a treasured gift to this community (with your imperfections and all), you inspire.)
xoxo,
m
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following post by Jennifer Armstrong, SOAR! 2009 Recipient
Sometimes, y’all, I just have to laugh at myself and the little situations I get myself into…
Watch with me for a sec.
SO…
When I got inside, a couple of things happened.
1)Realized that, even though I brought my computer with me so I could work on things, I brought the wrong external hard drive with me.
2)My before pictures [wide shots explaining where I was, the light, how I moved things around to adjust with light] were on another hard drive.
3)I only had a couple of “after” pictures on my desktop.
Just last night we were on a teleconference with Me Ra talking about making something work with what you’ve got. If I ever wanted to prove what going with what you’ve got is all about, believe I am doing it here! I actually did this photo assignment well ahead of time which is what is most frustrating!
What I can tell you is that I just looked for the perfect window. The sweet mama who let me come over had gorgeous light in her kitchen and a great table. I dressed baby James in a little cocoon and matching hat [made by Lindsay Baumgartner!], propped a basket facing the window, and started!
There you have it! The somewhat dramatic version of my photo assignment! Here’s to changes in plans!
Let’s do this y’all. And somebody help me!,
jen
That is what life is all about, going with the flow. Starting with a plan, totally forgetting the plan 5 minutes into the shoot:). Jen, Look at your beautiful captures. Way to go!
We make plans, and God laughs. (Then when we calm down, we marvel at the magnificence of what His plan had been the whole time)
I second Carey, couldn’t have said it better myself.
Beautiful shots 🙂
I agree with Carey!
I smiled the whole time watching you in the video – I saw the wheels actually turning in your head as you talked and then I saw your honest and sincere thoughts, which I appreciated. The photos turned out beautiful!
What do they always say, “Life happens while you’re making plans.”
It’s the letting go of the need to control all the details that is tricky.
Thank you Jen for being You!
Shine On!
I just LOVE you Jen!
And I just want to tell you again that you are amazing!
It feels good to know I’m not the only one who, trying to be on top of things, grabs the wrong equipment, forgets something I thought about remembering 10x before we left, etc… I LOVE Carey’s comment above. What is the quote? “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” – or something like that.
What’s so cool about this post to me (and so encouraging) is how it shows that growth comes in steps. Yes, you had a lot to think about (more than you would have had to focus on had this just been a regular hired shoot), but you knew where the light was and didn’t have to worry about it. (Think of the stress you would have felt about just that point 9 months ago.) The truth is, the more we do this with intentionality of growth, the more second nature the things that we didn’t even have a clue about at the beginning become.
I was having an a-ha moment just this morning along these lines as I was considering how I used to only choose a lens based on how wide or telephoto I could get and how far away from my subject I’d could be or would have to be to get what I wanted, and how much depth of field the f/stop offered me. Now I am starting to understand how my lens choice affects the actual look of my image beyond how blurry or not blurry I can get the background – something I never even knew I could want to learn about (and I’m glad about that because it would have been too overwhelming for sure). I wonder how many more things are there that I don’t even know to wonder about that will surface as I grow.
Haha – a pretty good metaphor for what walking with Christ is like huh?
Great job girl! Sometimes I feel like what you described is my life! You handled it with grace 🙂
Oh my gosh…MeRa you are all in my head today…or should I say THIS MONTH! Jen, you showed the lesson amazingly well! Carey…do you mind if I quote you? I love how well you said it! To all three of you, MeRa, Jen, & Jen..thank you all. Great post to read first thing this am. It met me right where I am at which is trying to fight through the less than perfect situation and making due with what’s right in front of me!
Jen you do inspire!!! Thanks for sharing this and so many other experiences with us! Your photos are just beautiful! I have loved learning through all three of the SOAR girls this year, what a blessing!!
Thanks MeRa for the reminder that there will never be a perfect time to jump!
ha HA! My day has been made! Love this community-your support is more than encouraging! Thanks AGAIN Me Ra and thank you ladies for letting a scatter-brained, mama-hoping-to-be-photographer-too in to your worlds!
LOVE. 🙂
Jen, I swear you are my long lost sister! 🙂
Just the other night I was going to an event photo shoot 1.5 hours away. I had a set arrival time. About an hour into the drive I had this horrible thought, “Oh no! The Compact Flash is still in my card reader on my desk at home!” I had to pull over and check. Yep, not there!
Fortunately, my wonderful Sony A 850 holds a compact flast and a memory stick. I giggled at the name “memory” and got to my appointment on time.
You do such beautiful work! I just have to know where you got that amazing hat and blanket. It’s so beautiful!
Beautiful Jen! I know how you feel…you’re miles ahead of me with jumping and I’m super proud of you! Can’t believe how fast time has flown and how far you’ve come! Props to all of you SOAR sisters!
awesome. i do the exact same stuff, especially when i’m confronted with new things! my first string of mini sessions was last week and i didn’t bring my battery charger AND i ran out of card space and had to run home and empty everything between sessions. luckily i had an understanding family waiting for me :O) jumping is so hard!
Yep, sometimes we just need to get out of our own way. It’s not as difficult as we make it out to be. Just put your mind in slow motion and all of a sudden it’s just you and that beautiful baby and the light! And look at those captures, so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes. Keep it up, you have a gift to share!!
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Beautiful description of what happens at the ledge Me Ra. And to bring together what the Soar gals have been doing all year – learning to jump with all those voices.
And sweet Jen – so brave and creative of you to show it all. So much more real, fun, interesting and inspiring. Your ‘anxious time’ HAS to be coming down in length. Yep, keep it up – you DO have a gift to share!
Hey, the above is from Genie – crazy!
plan A…..all my stuff.
plan B…..all the stuff i end up doing.