Want to know what I did today? Pounded 3 cups of coffee like it was my job, kept a baby alive and happy, planned and prepped meals for two weeks that won't cause malnutrition, cleaned the house so DCFS doesn't take my baby, put eyeliner on, made baby food, delivered three galleries to clients that couldn't stop talking about how in love they are with their photos, taught a lesson plan to teenagers trying to convince them that the physical features of Europe are, in fact, a vital part of their existence, and spent an hour being a social media guru. Hello! Why didn't anyone tell me that I'm an awesome beast?!
Most days, however, that isn't how I think. I only notice the floors I didn't vacuum, the story I didn't read, the papers I didn't grade, and the photos I didn't edit. Regardless of the job, we have the tendency to ONLY focus on our flaws. And, maybe it's just me, but even if I had a day where EVERYONE told me I was the most fabulous person ever to breath oxygen, I would never take the time to say, "Self, you kick some serious butt on this planet." What the hell?! So, I'm sick and tired of feeling like I've fallen short of the universe's expectations and there's only one thing left to do: people, pour the wine and celebrate the small stuff with some overpriced cheese from the fancy section of the grocery store, it's time to celebrate our awesome!
Since celebrating ourselves is such an issue, I've come up with a list of 4 reasons why you (aka me) need to shut the hell up when it comes to your Negative Nancy attitudes and be a self-partying animal. I promise, it's OK to be awesome.
1. You aren't always going to be awesome.
Are you crying? Don't. I accidentally dropped Oak into the crib the other day. On his head. That, my friends, was a non-awesome parenting moment. I tell jokes that fail in my classes on a minutely basis. Kevin complains that my laundry is exploding out of my closet daily. At a shoot last weekend, I crawled through dog poop and stank for the last half of the session. Blah, blah, freakin' blah. I will compare this to an expensive dinner...if you aren't always going to get one, shouldn't you enjoy it while it happens?
2. Celebrations are fun.
I'm not saying you have to have a full blown party (though I always promote a good shindig if there's wine!) but it feels good celebrate and know something fabulous has happened. I mean, I don't know about you, but I have a lot more fun at a party than a funeral. If football players weren't stoked post-win, what would be the point of playing?!
3. Nobody else is going to celebrate for you
Sorry guys, even if you're surrounded by a whole town of people you are related to, they aren't going to celebrate you taking an amazing photo or closing an awesome deal. You have to do it. I know, who wants to plan their own birthday? Well, get over your self-pity people. Go to the local wine store, splurge on an expensive bottle, and tell the cashier that you are buying it because your Facebook page got 1,000 likes. He, of course, won't care and will think you are an idiot, but you will always remember you did that for yourself. And, if your husband is like mine, he will always remind you of that time you bought that $40 bottle of wine like a moron. In my house, anything over $7.50 is cause for me to sell an organ on the black market.
4. You have worked your awesome little buns off
If you are naturally awesome, I'm going to be honest, I hate you. I have seriously worked my butt off to be where I am. Hours of workshops and classes, thousands of dollars, time away from my family, taking and reviewing tens of thousands photos and wishing I could ninja chop my throat when I looked at many of them. But seriously, don't we work hard to be awesome?! If you say no, you've lost your dang mind. I got to hear Elizabeth Gilbert speak a couple of months ago and she said something life changing. She, if you don't know, is an amazing and world recognized author who is at a level of awesome I can only aspire to be at. But you know what? She reminded me that she didn't wake up that way one day. She worked hard, failing along the way, to get so fabulous. The photographers we follow that we compare ourselves to religiously? They didn't just come out of the womb with 5D Mark III in their hands with all of the knowledge they would ever need. And yes, that would be such a fantastic birth to witness if it were true.
