My Heart for 2020

What you focus on is what will happen. So focus on your dream.

This saying was on someone's Insta feed recently and I had to write it down. "Focus" has been one word that has appeared in conversations, emails, texts recently and so I'm making it one of my words for the new year. I am WAY too easily distracted and I over anyalyze every little thing. So focusing on my dream and letting go of the trivial things the old Katie obsessed about will serve me well.

My heart for this new year is something that's been churning inside of me since my eye injury in September. My experience in Texas was one I'll never forget. I was on cloud 9 before my injury. I had met my goal for year by September, had watched so many exotic animals run free throughout the desert, got to hunt with Mitch and by myself, got to shoot cacti for days, watched the stars for hours. It was such a freeing experience. Then I got a corneal ulcer and experienced the most pain to date. We came home early and I fought, prayed, believed for weeks. Not gonna lie, the pain of having to wait 3 days before I was given proper meds and received proper treatment due to travelling, pushed me beyond my mental capacity. Every time I blinked, it was excruciating. Hint: you blink a LOT in one day. I learned the true definition of doubt. And then the true definition of faith. For a split second, I doubted who I was. I got in fear and allowed my mind to go to a world where I couldn't shoot anymore because of my loss of vision. I quickly snapped myself out of that fear and began speaking truth to my soul. I am healed. I am loved. I am provided for. I am the daughter of the Most High God. He has already provided my healing at the cross. I told my eyes that they would be better than before.

Fast forward to November, I get the doctor's report that my vision is better than it was before my injury. Like, significantly better. I do a happy dance and then I start praying for guidance for my 2020 goals. I kept hearing all kinds of teachings themed "2020 vision" and knowing my vision was just threatened, I knew there was something there. I was crushed and by that crushing, I experienced my annointing. You cannot enjoy the sweet aroma of an herb or oil without first crushing it. This was all churning in my heart and then I listened to a sermon series by one of my favorite preachers about his revelation on 2020 and it was100% confirmation to me.

It's not about me.

Say that out loud.

My goals, my passions, my legacy, my heart's desire to be a success... they're not about me.

Yes, I want to be succesful, I want to be blessed but I want to do so by helping others see their beauty. I want to capture other women's concept of wild and free. I want couples to have so much fun laughing and reminiscing when they first met that they forget I'm even there photographing them. I want to help beginners learn their cameras and learn the concept of exposure at my workshops. I want to attend meet ups with other creatives so we can create a sense of community in this very unfriendly industry. All the ways I've built my business are so that I can use my skills to bless others with priceless keepsakes. My heart is for this community. My heart is for this industry. I want the social norms to be reversed. I want the horror stories of fake or sketchy photographers who shoot weddings and then take 6 months to deliver unedited images to be eradicated from this industry. I want brides to have phenomenal experiences with the photographers in this community. And I want photographers in this community to have clients who respect their creative eye, who value their work and are willing to pay top dollar for their work. I want photographers in my community to stop doubting themselves and to do what's been churning in their hearts to do. You are one of a kind. You have SO much to offer this industry that we've never seen before because it's YOUR take on the world around us that we've been missing.

I see you. I see you clearly. I am focused on building my business, building my community and speaking blessings over this entire industry. And by doing so, the God of the universe sends His blessings to you and me and then uses those blessings through you and me to show others His love. So many others need His love this year.

I'm speaking double blessings on the photography industry in Georgia this year. This will be the go-to place for creatives seeking inspiration and community. And I believe the city of Commerce will be a new hub for weddings, wedding vendors and wedding venues. I speak life to every dream that is blooming in your heart today. May it flourish, may it bring you to action and may you bless this world with your gifts and your eye. We've been waiting for you to bloom.

I bless this industry, this community and every creative soul in this world. Focus on your dream and then use it to bless others because it's so much bigger than just you.

Perhaps, you were born for such a time as this.

Happy 2020, yall.