His little arms wrapped tightly around my neck and didn’t release. I could feel the racing of his little heart upon my chest and the deep breaths one takes when they are at their most relaxed and safe state. I had just opened my lap top to start work for the day…and in a matter of 3 seconds….a 25 lb being put a stop to it. No please. No thank you. No words. Just his arms around me. His body on mine. I wouldn’t…couldn’t and didn’t pull away. 

My boys have this uncanning ability to sense when I am about to slip into “work mode.” Just as they sense when I am on an important phone call, they immediately start to scream and fight…but the minute I hang up…pure silence. This mystery of parenthood, I will never fully understand. lol

Ill be honest: There are a few hours in the day I remain “unreachable”. I do not BURY myself in my work, but I do let every ounce of it take over. I am so focused on what I am doing, typing, preparing, etc that the outside world disappears. One could call that focused, or dedicated to my craft….but one could also easily call it obsessive.

There is a fine line between passionate and work-a-holic. I have always been raised with the belief that “good things DO NOT come to those who wait”….good things come to those who work their HINNY off for it. Good things comes to those that live, breathe and eat their passion and never give up until their SURPASS their wildest dreams.

Up until this past year, balance was a hard thing to maintain. How busy was too busy? Was I working too hard? Was I burning myself out….

The answer was YES!!! Instead of being desperate to pick up my camera and head out to a shoot, I grunted at the weight of my camera in my hand and sting of the camera bag strap upon my shoulder. But I LOOOOVE my ‘job’….whatever could there be to be upset about? The answer was, “NOTHING.” The answer still is NOTHING!

As creatives however, we put our heart and soul into our images…our art….and we DO get tired. We DO NEED time to reboot, refresh so we can recreate ourselves and our art for our clients. When you get tired, you resort to “safe shots”, lack of creativity, and art you are not proud to show off to others OR most importantly your clients. This my friends leads to what we call a RUT!

Deciding to pick a few hours a day, a day or 2 a week to SLACK OFF was the best decision I made for not only my career, but my family.

My family reboots me. Refreshes me. Re-inspires me. Spending time with the ones I love, fills my ‘LOVE TANK’ so I can give out even more love to my clients. You know the saying “you get back what you give?” This couldnt be more true.

We can not be perfect and our toes all the time…its ok to slack off in the name of creativity and rebooting. It will benefit you, your clients and promote a healthy and successful business in the long run.

Just promise that you will never get to busy making a living, that you forget to make a LIFE! I heard that somewhere and it has stuck with me ever since. Here is to spending that extra 30 minutes at the nail salon with a friend. Here is to NEVER pulling away from those little armed hugs. Here is to enjoying yourself, your life, and refueling your Love Tank as often as you need.

xoxo,
Kaitlin Noel