Balance… and I how I find it!

Every now and then it happens!  I take a small break;  and by small break sometimes that means a day or two or it can mean a week or four or five!

This is usually when I know I need refuel a little bit!  I use that time to refocus:  on my family and also what inspires me in photography and drives my heart and calls me to be creative!

It’s no secret that owning your own business is an amazing gift!  It’s also no secret (once you get started) that, if you let it, your business can be a 24/7 around the clock calling!

This is where it is incredibly important from the very start to create a system of balance!

When I started, I had no idea what that meant!  I either worked too hard all the time and missed out on making my own memories and creating a life for myself.  OR the opposite would happen, I would become so burnt out that I would step away from my business and let all that hard work go to waste!

This became especially true when we had our sweet Linc.

I wondered, how can I be a mother (the kind of mother I want to be) and still be the photographer and business owner that I need to be?!

This phrase still runs around through my head time and time again.  I know this phrase runs through every mother’s head every day that she wakes up and goes off to work to provide for her family!

For me, the answer is in finding the right balance for my family!

My friend Amanda says it the best way:  You didn’t become your own boss to be horribly awful and mean to yourself!  So just stop!

That simple phrase was so absolutely freeing for me.  You see that is exactly the truth!

When we go into business for ourselves, we sometimes tend to be meaner, harder, stricter and more relentless than we would if we were to work for someone else!

As a photographer I am incredibly lucky to be able to share these moments with my clients!  I am blessed beyond measure to witness their stories and their capture their lives so that they may re-visit these moments time and time again!

The second I forget that feeling… it’s time for me to step back and re-focus!

So how does taking a break help to re-focus?!

For me personally this break means spending time just being “mom”.  It means taking the time to breath and soak in quality time with my family!

It means filling up my tank by:

• Clearing my schedule both days and evenings with no plans to allow for spontaneous adventures (I’m type A so this is a huge deal!)
• Spending the afternoons doing laundry!  (Yes I know this is weird but it really does help me!)
• Meal planning and preparing dinner for my family each night without feeling rushed or wondering “what did I plan tonight for dinner?”
• Leaving my camera out and about with the eye-fi card ready so I can shoot just for me!!!
• 365 project…. for real without worrying and feeling guilty because I missed a night!
• Beach walks with my boys with our pumpkin bucket so Linc can find his treasures (a.k.a rocks, feathers, twigs, sometimes it’s sandy dog poop… don’g judge!)
• Reading an actual book cover to cover that is NOT a business book and has nothing to do with the real world

Balance can mean so many things friends!  It can mean travel, it can mean reserving the weekends just for yourself!  Whatever you choose to do make sure it fits YOUR needs and the needs of your family (especially if your a mom).

The most important part is to remember that at the end of the day whatever you are choosing to do should re-ignite your heart for your business~

It’s silly to think that just taking a week “off” to wake up in the morning and drink a cup of coffee while folding the laundry and prepping the dinner for the evening would light a fire under me for photography!  Who would think that while I’m chopping vegetables and dancing with my son that I would come up with an entire plan for a new venture in my business!!

That’s just the point though… when we allow ourselves the time we need to relax and decompress, we actually inspire brand new ideas!

Where do you find your balance?!