On Your Own? Think Again!

It's easy to think that we are sometimes that only person who has a certain world view or is struggling to define concepts, or battling to make ends meet in this rather lack-lustre economy.  Yes, you can talk to friends and family about your life and the struggles you have on a daily basis, the disagreements you have with your bank or credit card company, but there is nothing quite like connecting with colleagues who are in the same boat as you are.

A couple of weeks ago I booked a flight up to Omaha, Nebraska on the urging of Ann Monteith an incredible photographer and past president of PPA to attend a workshop hosted in the town of Norfolk, Nebraska.  I wasn't sure what to expect at the workshop. I knew that I would have to be bullied and glared at by cold-hearted security personnel with room temperature IQs at the airports, have to squeeze into aeroplane seats designed to fit 5-year olds and endure the two hour flight to Omaha on teeny packet of pretzels with the possibility that some 3-month old kid would be screaming his/her lungs out the entire journey. While the latter didn't happen, the plane was delayed for over an hour.  I wonder if this is a sign of things to come with the merger of United and Continental?

I arrived at Omaha, picked up my car rental (a PT cruiser which handles the way it was designed - awkwardly) and drove into the green hills of Nebraska carpeted with fields of green corn. After a 2 hour journey, I found the hotel, checked in, rushed down for the "Welcome" cocktail hour (the older I get, the more cocktail hours I need!) and introduced myself to a few stragglers and made out way to the restaurant for dinner.  What a treat.  At table I sat with Bruce and Josh Hudson, a father and son team at Hudson Portrait Design. What an incredible team they make and they set me on fire with their stories of hurdles they had to overcome and tales success.  This was a sign of things to come. For two days, I "workshopped" and networked with 35 other photographers who insisted that even though the economic climate sucks, failure in business is not an option. After all, what else can a photographer do? Work for some cold-hearted jack-ass boss whose ongoing mood swings need to be controlled with bi-polar medication?  I think not!

The energy was intense. The workshops helped us design our goals, put systems in place for the next two quarters, overcome issues, tweak some ideas and plan for success. The evening were spent sharing our stories around a glass of wine, beer or scotch. The third day of activities was tightly scheduled as we met with graphic designers, web designers and marketing specialists back to back and who helped translate our ideas and dreams into marketing reality. At 5 PM we parted and I headed back to Omaha, NE and checked into a Holiday Inn (thanks to Priceline.com) at a good price.

 I spent the Thursday morning relaxing over a late breakfast and then made my way to the airport. I was so anxious to get home, that I boarded the wrong plane! How was I supposed to know that the plane I was seated on was going to La Guardia, NY instead of Houston, TX?  I mean, there I was comfortably seated in my teeny aisle seat, and the doors were about to close but one person had a ticket but because some people had switched seats, he had no place to sit. The gate official came up front and made an announcement for me to come to the front of the plane with all my belongings.  What?  Why was I being kicked off? I went up front without my stuff, and asked what was going on. The gate official asked if I had all my belongings with me.  Of course I didnt!  I wanted to know what was going on before they kicked me off. That's when I learnt that I was on the wrong flight.  Ooops!  I was a little flushed and apologized profusely. The gate official said it was their fault because they should've caught it. I exited the plane with my bags and ensconced in the waiting area once again waiting for the correct flight! Anyway, after a dull flight with well-behaved passengers, I was glad to get back to Houston.

It's easy for us to sometimes wallow in the fact that we're on our own and to underscore our aloneness by taking online classes or read books and manuals in isolation.  This experience taught me how important it is to get out there, to mix with others,  to share ideas, to listen to others and to surround yourself with people who know the taste of success and are happy to help you in your quest for success. The poet John Donne put it this way in his Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...