Creative Community Gathering at Virginia Farmhouse

We reluctantly said goodbye to this amazing group of #creatives just 24 hours ago, and I've been taking the time since then to process all the inspiration @eileen_blume and I received during our week together in an old Virginia farm house. We sat together around tables of food and burned the midnight oil in glowing conversation. We stretched ourselves in unexpected ways, sharpening our minds through exercises in both painting and public oration (led by the talented and generous speech coach, @curtsteinhorst The pursuit of excellence is a struggle — it takes hard work, to be sure. But within community, the struggle refines us and breathes purpose into our lives. That’s so opposite from the results I’ve observed when I have strived for “success” alone, which breeds impatience, contempt and bitterness instead. I want to encourage photographers, creatives, and really everyone, no matter your industry or station in life: Place community above competition. Place relationships above pride. And do so intentionally; otherwise, I find it’s far too easy for me to fall into human patterns of self-sufficiency. Ultimately, God has designed us to do life together. I’m deeply grateful for a company, @showit.co, that gets that — a software company that is absolutely brilliant at what it does, but which prioritizes relationships above material pursuits. Thanks, #Showit. We’re even more excited now to see the Showit team and all these photographers/speakers at #ShowitUnited in just a few weeks. It can’t come soon enough! In the meantime, I know our days in between will be more purposeful because of your gift, and that every United attendee is sure to benefit from your investment in us as well.