So, 2016… you seem all excited, all fresh and shiny brand new… but before you start blasting around with all your glitter and cheer and noise, let’s get something straight…here’s the thing – your predecessor, 2015, kinda sucked a little bit. But… in the interest of fresh starts and all that jazz, I won’t belabor the point. Let’s just leave all that stuff on yesterday’s plate…
This WILL be the year of Wootness. I don’t care what you’ve got planned, what little curve ball you’re going to toss my way, but I’m giving you notice… this WILL be a better year.
And because I know that half the crap that happened in 2015 was of my own doing, I’ll hold myself in a little bit more check as well.
Priority-setting is going to be a big change this year. I have no idea what I’m going to change or how, but something must give.
I found 2015 was a struggle because most of the time was spent trying to please other people. Too many other people. Anyone need a favor? I’m your girl! You’re behind on a project? Let me help you! Someone needs to volunteer for something? I’m raising my hand right here!!
That totally needs to stop.
Not because I don’t want to help, but because I found myself helping others more than I was helping myself. And most of the time, the help I extend, isn’t really returned when I’m in a position of need. Now, I know you don’t do something with the expectation of receiving something in return, but let’s just say there’s a point where some situations start looking really lopsided in the give/take category and you start to question whether or not you’re being used and/or appreciated. And when you’ve barely got the time left to take care of your own needs with the time that you have leftover, that lopsidedness becomes more apparent.
So…
This year, I’m going to be selfish. That actually sounds kind of negative. I could say “I’m going to be nice to myself” but it’s WAY more than that, these changes that need made.
I spend a lot of my time doing/saying/writing things for other people. I have formulated some warped sense of “how a professional photographer should act” and I’ve spent a lot of time being all prim and proper and not voicing my opinion about the real way I think and feel about things. I’ve been afraid of stepping on the wrong toes, of saying things that will come back to haunt me later; of getting a smart-mouth reputation that will keep me from being selected as a judge or as an Imaging speaker. You know what? I applied to be considered for both those things this year, and neither one panned out, so my plan wasn’t all that effective now, was it?
The proof is in the pudding right here at Wootness. It’s been a long time since I’ve metaphorically touched pen to paper. When I’ve been true to my inner Wootness, I’ve received some negative responses that have shut me down. This happens on a regular basis. Why? Because I don’t have the strength within me to tell those folks to get lost.The fault is not in what I write from my heart but in the fact that some of my readers think that they have a right to tell me how to think and feel.
I’m done with that.
I write Wootness for me. If you don’t like it, find something else to read.
Not only am I going to change how much of my time is allocated to other folks’ causes, but I’m going to keep in check the amount of emotion I invest, as well.
I’m not sure how successful that’s going to be, but since the common theme of 2015 was having my heart broken by a variety of people and situations, well, 2016, you’re gonna get a “not so touchy-feely Christine.” Oh, don’t be confused, I will always have “all the feels” – but whether or not I allow you on my list of “all the people I have feels for” is a totally different thing.
So, here we are, that’s how things stand and I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a happy!
