There’s something about life that always amazes me. These days I’m a pretty big loner. I don’t really have friends to speak of and all the "friends" I do have are off in different states and have started new chapters to their lives. I always dreamed big when I was a kid. I went through a faze where I thought I was going to become a famous horseback rider. Then I had dreams about possibly making it in a soccer carrier. Later on I thought that I was going to get married to my first love and start a life with him. Then everything started to shift when we broke up. I was in high school and my mind was always shifting to different ideas and I started to feel like I didn’t belong in any category. 

(This picture is back from 2013)

When I was young I always thought that the rules never applied to me. You know, the basic rules about the universe. You pay taxes and to do that you have to have a job. To make the money you need to pay taxes, food, gas, or really anything you want in the world means selling your life away to a job that you may or may not enjoy. I always thought that the rules were lies my Dad told me to get me to listen, to behave and act accordingly. Well I learned the real truth about the world when I was in high school and started working. From the very first job I worked I hated it, I wanted out and I honestly thought it was so boring. I mean the world is just outside those doors and I wanted to run out there and never be seen again. 

(Photo was taken in 2014)

I went through a photography stage and I really wanted to pursue my life in that art. I wanted to make it real and live life doing something I loved. My dreams got quickly crushed as I realized that people were better than I was and they had more talent at creating worlds in pictures. They were loved, recognized and cherished. Me? I was side stepped, given some encouragement and then looked over. I tried to make it happen but I had no self-esteem and I certainly had no way of spreading the word around. It hurt, it sucked but I never gave up on taking pictures. 

(Photo taken in 2014)

Eighteen was the real turn around point for me. I started getting into a real work life, I had people who cared and were showing me the way to making a living. I was happier and I started to learn responsibility. I was growing in a world that had looked over me. I was started to get what my little brain imagined. Piece by piece things were coming together and even now, two years later, I am still figuring it out and working to getting somewhere I want to be. I’m so close to my dream and I can feel it on my fingertips. I can taste it on my tongue. I can see the world just beyond the horizon in my eyes. 

(Photos taken this year 2017)

It’s calling to me and yes I had hard times and lots of ups and downs but that has made me so much better at the things I enjoy. When I started photography I had no idea what I was doing, I was just shooting random pictures because I wanted to do that. Now I shoot what I believe is beautiful and inspiring to me. I want to take that around the world and share it. I want to show what I can do and I don’t want to give up my dream.

I will live my dream.