For the next year, I completely absorbed myself in the art and business of photography. I self-taught myself photography, business strategies, taxes for solo business owners, marketing, graphic design, and Photoshop. You could say I’m an extreme person – I tend to listen closely to my heart, and when my intuition nudges me in a certain direction, you can believe that a decision will be quickly made.

Through the ups-and-downs of my present journey, life has taken unexpected detours, and when I was least expecting it. But I constantly remained open and flexible, seeing every life event as an opportunity to learn and grow.  I’ve learned to adjust my sails when a sudden wave appears.

I’ve also learned a valuable lesson on patience and trust that year. Despite the awkward moments, penniless days, and frustrating weeks when I felt like I was going absolutely nowhere, I realized that I was. We are on a life journey that is constantly unfolding and presenting new opportunities and lessons. And the best part of it all is that it is ours and ours alone. We are the designers of our own, unique lives and we are completely allowed to make mistakes, tweak, adjust, get up and start over again. Again and again.  The one thing about us, humans, that I am absolutely sure of is our constant need to evolve, shift and change. Nothing is permanent.  As psychologist Will Meek, Ph.D., once said: “Strategic quitting is making a prideful choice to admit that something isn’t working out and to go in a different direction. It’s making a decision to put your energy toward something more fulfilling.”  Instead of equating quitting and change as failure, I decided to think of it as regrouping, switching gears and getting unstuck from my present life circumstance. In essence: I decided to follow my intuition. And that is the best route anyone can take on this journey.