First Things First

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, so you may wonder where I’ve been. I think the photo on the right tells the story pretty well—that’s me with the cellphone camera sitting on the… well, you’ll figure it out.

Since that shot, I’ve reassessed how I waste spend my time. Like a lot of you, I’ve always had a grab bag of things on my plate—this blog being one of them. And I’ve always counted it a good day when my checked-off to-do items reached a new high. But that was wrong-headed thinking. What I should have been doing is concentrating on doing the right things, not just the most things. So, I put aside David Allen’s Getting Things Done and concentrated on Stephen Covey’s First Things First. Things are getting better now.

For those unfamiliar with Covey, he’s all about keeping your life in balance by working on those strategic projects that move you toward your big picture goals. Using his plan, you assign projects and tasks to one of four quadrants: (1) urgent and important; (2) important but not urgent; (3) urgent but not important; and (4) not urgent and not important.

When you find yourself wondering what’s wrong with your life—as I did—it’s usually because you’ve avoided all the stuff that should be in quadrant two (important but not urgent). Things like preparing for known life challenges, clarifying values, and working on important relationships. Of course, these aren’t nearly as easy and fun as “meet so-and-so at camera store,” “check out new TIVO device from Apple,” or “rent that new [fill in your dream camera here] for a day.”

So, what the hell does all this have to do with my blog or boudoir photography? Well, everything, really. I stopped posting because I felt strongly that what I did here fell into quadrant four—that it was neither urgent nor important. So why bother?

And had the need to express myself beyond the photographic print not been rekindled, I wouldn’t be writing this post. As it turns out, that rekindling resulted from the confluence of two recent events. First, preparing for a class I taught recently (The Intimate Female Portrait); and second, a friend’s request to write a quite difficult letter (something I did in my former life on a weekly basis). Midway through these tasks, I realized that while not urgent, writing for me is actually quite important—for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to exercise and discipline my thought processes in ways not afforded by any part of the photographic process.

Writing and teaching moved from quadrant four to quadrant two because they became pathways to self-actualization. As a result, I decided to continue blogging, at least in some form. And I’ll continue to emphasize education while including the personal interactions so necessary for this type of work. I do not consider the blogging effort urgent, however, as others do with their blogs, so I can guarantee neither frequency nor length.

And now, the information you’ve all been waiting for, the lighting setup for the image at the top of this post: unmodified overhead fluorescent. Sexy, huh?

Comments

[Jeff Goldfarb]

Welcome back. I've missed your blog. I look forward to new posts.

[Anonymous]

I have missed your posts also.

While I understand your decision to stop, I am happy that you will continue from time to time.

Thanks for taking time to share your world with us.

[Lin]

writing for me is actually quite important—for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to exercise and discipline my thought processes in ways not afforded by any part of the photographic process.

Yep, I totally get that. It's why I blog. If I didn't do it, I'd go stark raving crazy (most folks would say I already am.) I'm very glad you're back...I must admit I had wondered what had happened, but was too polite to ask.

Looking forward to reading more about your life-epiphany. And thanks for your comment on our blog too. I totally deserved that.