I have made exactly ONE New Year’s Resolution that I have actually stuck with, and it was the best life change I have ever made.

When I think something nice about someone, I tell them.  No matter how small the compliment, I say it.

It’s that simple.

I long ago learned that words have power, but I found myself concentrating on the negative side to that truth.  I work hard, often unsuccessfully, not to lash out in anger by saying hurtful things that I can apologize for but never really take back.

What can I say?  I’m Puerto Rican, and have my dad’s temper.  I have a tendency to speak my mind.  But I realized that I was NOT telling people the positive things I was thinking about them when I was speaking to them.  WHY NOT?

So I promised myself that I would change that, and what I learned was that we get so much negative feedback about ourselves that we tend to lose sight of our intrinsic worth. (Too often that negative talk is from our own selves, but that’s a topic I will tackle in another blog.)

I fully believe we are valuable; that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  So I began telling people the little ways they are appreciated too.   I learned that when I shared my compliments, the reactions and uplifted spirits of the person I was talking to lifted ME up in turn.

My photography is my amplified way to give and get that boost in spirit.

I have studied and practiced countless hours on how to make people look their best in photographs, and while I still have infinite lessons to learn, I am so thankful I get to SHOW my clients my compliments, instead of just having to tell them.  There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing and FEELING the reaction of someone looking at one of my images of them, incredulous that it is really them.  It is as if they are really seeing themselves for the first time.

It is my goal to lift others up through my work; to build them up so they can in turn influence others in a positive way.  The truth is, it edifies me too.  There is real, literal  power in our words.  Imagine my gratitude that, as they say, one picture is worth a thousand words.

 

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