This little guy came to visit the other night.
This being Florida, it’s hardly a banner day when you spot a lizard. They’re under every leaf and on every sidewalk. But they aren’t usually hanging out on my front door, peeping in at me. I had to smile. grab a camera. Because it was fun, because it was unexpected.

“Unexpected” is a word that definitely comes to mind when I think of my career trajectory. At five, I wanted to be a horse trainer. For part of my divergent seventh year, I wanted to be a marine biologist. By eight, I knew again that I would be a horse trainer. And from eight and a half on, I knew-knew I was going to be a writer. So I went to college to study English and creative writing and dip my toes into the literary ocean. I wrote for my college paper, which led to an introduction with an editor at my city’s newspaper, which led to a steady stream of freelance writing and photography work. Which, after a while, led to me quitting working with the newspaper and turning my full attention to wedding photography, where my true photography passion lay.

Because wedding photography was definitely the logical vocation for me to end up in since I had wanted to be a horse trainer.

But my point in sharing my unexpected journey into my photography business is just to say that, had I not been willing to embrace the unexpected, this never would have happened: If I had refused to start doing photography work for the newspaper (I was a writer, darn it!), I never would have learned how much I loved working with a camera, how much I loved preparing myself to capture the perfect moment, how much I enjoyed pushing myself to see things differently through the lens. I can still remember the exact picture that made me think maybe, just maybe photography — not writing — was where my future lay. But that picture wouldn’t have ever existed if I had only pursued the expected.

So embrace and explore the unexpected, happy twists and turns your own life. It might be as simple as enjoying a lizard showing up on your door. Or you might wind up a wedding photographer. But I’m willing to guess, whatever it is, there’s a good chance you’ll wind up amazed at the beautiful place you find yourself, or the beautiful people you find yourself with.

~ Laura