freely give.

okay, i'm going to take this time to vent. 
why? 
because i have an ulcer that requires me vent.
because i won't be able to go to sleep until i do. 
and because this really upsets me.

this year i've had to set aside the camera and just be a mom.

i won't lie.  i don't like being "just a mom". 

however, tonight i had the opportunity to do another photog get together.  i love these and love meeting the other photographers.  there are some truly wonderful women at these events.  at the end of our session, we had a q&a, asking about things we liked, didn't like, etc. 

one girl said we "shouldn't give away our cd's to clients.  they should be purchased as an extra, because we shouldn't sell ourselves short--we put a lot of time into them.
and we shouldn't do free sessions all of the time.  just have a special project and do one". 

can i just say that there are some serious angry tears on my face right now.  everytime i try to go to sleep, to roll over and just forget it, i tear up again.

i understand trying to push confidence in a person and telling them not to give away their hard work, but what if
that's what I feel led to do?  isn't it my choice?  if i've already stated that i'm not in this to make money, what does it matter how i run my business? 

i couldn't believe how hard her words struck me.  how upset i was.  i think a lot of it stemmed from the way it was said... like i was messing up her business by doing free sessions.

(and please don't ask me who said this... i'm not going to share)

all i heard was the word SELFISH being yelled in my head.  i know from her website, she's not completely selfish... she has some great things that she's involved in, photography wise.

but how can you tell a person that they shouldn't freely give?? 

i just don't understand why people are so selfish with their gifts.  God has given us amazing gifts and if i'm not blessing people with my gift, then i'm doing something seriously wrong.


and if you don't like me giving away free stuff, tough cookie.


i can guarantee that the person(s) who can't afford photos do.
and that's all there is to it.