Words fumble out when someone asks me what I do. A question I rarely know how to answer. So much of who we are is wrapped up in what we do and there are days I grow weary of needing to define myself.
What I am coming to realize, though, is that while my worth is not defined by what I do, all the aspects of my life define me.
I don’t struggle to define myself as wife and mother. The struggle for me is declaring myself in the realms of arts.
I hesitate to call myself a photographer, an artist, a writer.
But those are aspects of my life that I love and in part define me.
I’ve always loved taking photos even as a child and while those first photos taken with my 110 film camera (remember those?) never seemed to capture what my mind saw, my skills have grown and are growing still.
I am a photographer.
The desire to paint came more recently. God gave our son such an artistic gift. Four years ago we decided to cultivate his gift more by enrolling him in art lessons. I enrolled with him painting alongside him in the beginning. My art time has been spent painting what I see in photos or trying to paint the works of others in an effort to learn. Now I’m beginning to find my own voice with my painting.
I am an artist.
But writing has been with me for as long as I can remember. From the time I learned to read and write with a pencil I loved writing. I graduated from college having spent four years reading and writing and I had no idea what I wanted to do. One of those degrees where you can do almost anything or nothing. Still I’m proud of that degree.
Somewhere along the way those voices that try to squelch who God created you to be overpowered. Amidst life, marriage, running a household, changing diapers, and chasing after the most adorable auburn haired boy I stopped considering myself a writer.
But thankfully God doesn’t give up the dreams He has for you even when you do.
I am a writer.
My writing will look different than it does for others. Even if my writing is never published, even if it only reaches the small audience of my blog, even when the words are hard and seem to bleed onto the page, I have to write because it is a part of who He created me to be.
I am a photographer.
I am an artist.
I am a writer.
For the next 15 days I am joining with Jeff Goins and others for a writing challenge. You can read more about it by clicking on the image below.
