quote of the week:
“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
– William Faulkner
“try to be better than yourself”. such a simple idea but so true. i think we often don’t see our true potential. we compete with others for the coveted #1 position then stop. how about we stop competing with others and just compete with ourselves. set a very high goal that is not dependent on others and then set out to achieve that goal.
many of you know that i finished my college degree in recent years. it was hard going back to school in my 30’s and being surrounded by so much youth. culture shock. i didn’t really fit in. it took awhile to navigate my way and make some awesome friends and even then i still felt a little bit on the outside. but…the big difference here…is that i was in school not to prove anything to anyone else…but to prove something to myself. i wasn’t competing with any other students for grades. i was competing against myself. i wasn’t competing with anyone else to make better images. i was competing with myself to make my best images yet.
receiving my BFA in photographic imaging was a goal that i accomplished. my other goal was to graduate college with a perfect gpa. i am so very proud to say that i graduated summa cum laude. a perfect gpa. this wasn’t a competition that i had been waging for years against any other student. this was a competition that i had been in against myself. i was competing against my procrastination, against that little voice inside my head that said i just wasn’t good enough, against the part of myself that said “oh amber” you don’t really need to work so hard, against the parts of myself that told me good was good enough.
what i also received out of working so hard and being better than i ever thought i could was the honor of being student speaker at my college graduation ceremony. wow…talk about a surreal moment. here i was the mother of two who had dropped out of college and gotten married at the age of 19 only to go back to college in my mid 30’s. here i was addressing all of the students, faculty, friends and family. (here is my blog post about my graduation and speech).
so here is to being better than yourself! keep doing it…over and over and over and over. you are your best competition.
highlights of the week:
* i finally had the pleasure of meeting up with Cody Grannis of Amore Events by Cody in her brand new office in charlottesville. seriously if any of you don’t follow her amazing work you need to right away. she specializes in wedding day coordination and full wedding planning. just check out all of the decor she has available for her clients.
* most of last week was my rearranging of the week as i was supposed to head “home” to michigan for a memorial service. with an even heavier heart i wasn’t able to make the drive because of the weather. michigan has been getting hammered with snow and bad weather. the 10 hour drive there wasn’t looking very promising either with freezing rain, high winds, and snow predictions. it really sucks not being able to be there with those you love in their time of need.
* i did FINALLY blog a completely awesome VisArts of Rockville wedding
* i also blogged about my favorite way to make coffee. i’m waiting on some new suggestions people!!!! get on it!
* hmmm…what can i say about the Super Bowl last night? well…i very much enjoyed hanging out with good friends! i also enjoyed munching on gluten free pizza and gluten free chocolate chip cookies. can i also get a “hello” for the h&m commercial with david beckham? that needs to be put on repeat! there were a few really great commercials…besides the one already mentioned…i laughed like crazy over the bud light commercial with the tagline “the perfect beer for whatever happens”, the puppy and horse budweiser commercial is a classic (and i love that passenger song!), oh and for some reason i thought the chevy commercial with the special bachelor was a fun one too. what were your favorites??
happy rainy monday!