The Freedom to Create

For years, I’ve worked as a consultant - a role that, while stable and respected, slowly began to feel like a trap.  I was doing the kind of work that demanded precision but left little room for imagination.  I was labeled an “expert,” which meant I was often called on to do the same types of projects, again and again.  On paper, it made sense.  But in practice, it left me creatively exhausted - and quietly unfulfilled.

There’s an old story about a monkey who gets caught because it won’t release a handful of food from inside a narrow trap.  The monkey’s fist, clenched too tightly to pull free, becomes its own undoing.  For years, I realized, I had been that monkey - holding on tightly to the security of a paycheck, the comfort of familiarity, and the illusion of control.

Meanwhile, the world was moving on without me.  The light was changing.  Beauty was passing by in real time. I was watching it instead of living it.

So I let go.  I quit my job.

Since then, I’ve felt something I haven’t felt in years - freedom.  Emotional, mental, and creative freedom.  Each morning I wake up and feel the urge to see again - not through a spreadsheet or report, but through my lens.  I notice more.  I breathe slower.  I work harder, but it’s a different kind of work - one fueled by curiosity, not obligation.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy.  I’ve also never felt more fiscally frightened.  But beneath the fear, there’s something steadier - faith.  Faith that the universe rewards honesty.  Faith in my ability to observe, to create, and to share the quiet beauty I find in the world around me.

My hope - always - is that my work helps others slow down too.  That my photographs offer a pause in the noise, a reminder that we all have a choice: to cling to what’s safe, or to open our hands and let something new unfold.

I’ve spent much of my life practicing control.  Now I’m learning the art of release - and it feels like the beginning of something real.