I have to admit that I am absolutely the worst person for staying focused. Boy, that sure is ironic considering the website I have. In the midst of retail work I have found that my thoughts are consumed by the customers' lives and my own life is put on the back burner. What I have learned working in the customer service field is that people can be awesome and people can be outright jerks. The key is finding the best way to adapt to that person, regardless of how they treat you, so they leave with a good experience. This, of course, has to be done without the typical ass kissing, it has to be genuine. One of my co-workers said to me after a rather tumultuous night of high maintenance customers and missing bar-codes, "Working in customer service has made me a better customer." It is exhausting and has taken its toll on me in that I have ignored my blog and the passions that make up who I am. I can say I have experienced the customer service desk and I conquered it. But I want to focus on me again and whats good for me.
For those of you who have ever worked in retail you will know that the pay is not that great. The hours and the scheduling are so inconsistent that making plans are near impossible and social life is almost non-existent. There are the lucky few that get full time hours with a full time wage plus benefits and scheduled holidays, but I was not one of those lucky people. What I got to do was cover for those 'lucky' people and when they were able to return to their jobs I was cut back. You might think I am just talking through bitterness but I am not. This is two full years of observation and watching the political 3-ring circus that goes on in retail.
In the summer I made the decision to start selling my camera equipment and I rationalized it by saying that I needed the money and that digital photography is taking over whether or not I fight it. I posted an ad and within a week I got a response. Sure I was excited but when the guy came over to look at the lenses I had to offer, we ended up talking for hours about photography. I didnt want to tell him that I had a change of heart, I was determined to sell them and stick to my life in retail (safety job). When he left I felt like a part of me also left. Since then I have been gravitating back to the world of photography and preparing myself to say goodbye to retail forever. Recently, I came across a website that specializes in photo restore and I had that feeling again. I have to get my hands back on a 'real' photograph (meaning silver prints) and posted yet another ad. Before I knew if this venture was going to come to fruitation I ran to Henry's and bought a new loupe and some darkroom chemicals...a leap of faith. I had very few lookie-loos and I was ready to take the ad down when someone emailed me. They were a restoration company that were looking to outsource for three very treasured photos. Currently I have them lifted from the glass and am getting ready to redraw them digitally. This is my hook back into the photo world!! This is my passion without a doubt and retail will soon be a thing of the past. Something I can say I did once.
Now that I have the smell of photography in the air again (somehow I feel like Bruce the shark on Finding Nemo) I will be back more often and once I get the 'ok' from the owner of the photographs I will be posting the images.
Ahhhhh...this feels good! Never loose sight of you. No matter what your passion, live that passion. Thats what you were meant to do.
~love and light~
Shady
For those of you who have ever worked in retail you will know that the pay is not that great. The hours and the scheduling are so inconsistent that making plans are near impossible and social life is almost non-existent. There are the lucky few that get full time hours with a full time wage plus benefits and scheduled holidays, but I was not one of those lucky people. What I got to do was cover for those 'lucky' people and when they were able to return to their jobs I was cut back. You might think I am just talking through bitterness but I am not. This is two full years of observation and watching the political 3-ring circus that goes on in retail.
In the summer I made the decision to start selling my camera equipment and I rationalized it by saying that I needed the money and that digital photography is taking over whether or not I fight it. I posted an ad and within a week I got a response. Sure I was excited but when the guy came over to look at the lenses I had to offer, we ended up talking for hours about photography. I didnt want to tell him that I had a change of heart, I was determined to sell them and stick to my life in retail (safety job). When he left I felt like a part of me also left. Since then I have been gravitating back to the world of photography and preparing myself to say goodbye to retail forever. Recently, I came across a website that specializes in photo restore and I had that feeling again. I have to get my hands back on a 'real' photograph (meaning silver prints) and posted yet another ad. Before I knew if this venture was going to come to fruitation I ran to Henry's and bought a new loupe and some darkroom chemicals...a leap of faith. I had very few lookie-loos and I was ready to take the ad down when someone emailed me. They were a restoration company that were looking to outsource for three very treasured photos. Currently I have them lifted from the glass and am getting ready to redraw them digitally. This is my hook back into the photo world!! This is my passion without a doubt and retail will soon be a thing of the past. Something I can say I did once.
Now that I have the smell of photography in the air again (somehow I feel like Bruce the shark on Finding Nemo) I will be back more often and once I get the 'ok' from the owner of the photographs I will be posting the images.
Ahhhhh...this feels good! Never loose sight of you. No matter what your passion, live that passion. Thats what you were meant to do.
~love and light~
Shady