When I bent down to take this photo a couple of summer’s ago and my knees creaked - I didn’t know that it would be a launching point for this inaugural blog post. But when looking back through lots of images, I felt it helps portray visually to you what I’m thinking in my head. Our lives are lived-out by taking steps – one at a time – day after day – year after year. Some steps are taken in confidence while other are taken with measures of doubt and questioning. As a Believer though – regardless of my assurance level – I take comfort in knowing my steps are ultimately established by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:9)
As you can probably see, I’ve began a new e-adventure with the setup of this website. With recent unexpected changes in my day-to-day professional life – I’ve had extra time to do things I wouldn’t have had the time to pursue otherwise. I’ve also had time to ponder my “Next Steps.” It’s odd those two words have been used in my IT project planning a thousand times over the years when putting on paper what tasks come next in carrying out a project’s deliverables. My boss would routinely ask – “What are your next steps David – it’s all good what you’ve completed – but what comes next?”
Coming up with technical tasks to perform is one thing if building a digital component – however, applying the same process to one’s life is a “horse of a different color” / another matter entirely. Maybe you've experienced this feeling as well. The million-dollar question in my head these last forty-one days has been – “David, what are your next steps now that you're either in-between jobs or if all planets align and a decision is made to retire from IT life as you’ve known it for the last forty-five-ish years?"
Many friends have been encouraging me to use my gifts more fully around photography and writing since these are two things I enjoy. I confess I don’t have a crystal-clear vision of my future, but I am looking at taking steps to use this platform to express creativity beyond my Facebook and Instagram socials. We'll see where it leads. There's one thing for sure - it fits in nicely with every other adventure I'm on.
I ran across this quote from Katherine Rose recently and it speaks wonderfully to “why” I enjoy both sharing photos I take and thoughts elicited from…
“We are all on this wild ride we call life together with many of our experiences being shared ones. When we show up and bring people into our world it gives them another way to know themselves.”
My hopes are that by sharing a portion of the world I see through my camera viewfinder or through thoughts in blog form, you’ll see something maybe you’ve never seen before or perhaps reconsider a portion of the world seen through a different lens. The world is full of beautiful places, multifarious things and experiences, and diverse people – I have been blessed to experience all these throughout life and looking forward to what's next just over the horizon.
Until next time.