giveaway #3: a celebration of karen and following our dreams...

(um, yes, she really is that gorgeous)

karen and i exchanged interviews this week...because we are dorks like that :)

i met karen a couple of months ago at the lovebomb retreat and i was immediately charmed by her sassy personality and her matter of fact way of telling stories, speaking her truth , and revealing yours (she’s tricky like that). it was through her photos of me on that trip and one noyoudidn'tjustsaythat sentence she said to me while we were standing in the kitchen that i began to really see myself clearly in the ways i wrote about upon returning home. there is something magical about her...in her voice, in her stories, in the way she dresses, in her gorgeous talent, in her brave honesty to listen to her heart even when it's still becoming clear.

what whispers of heart you ask? big ones. karen quit her high paying attorney position this week to pursue her dream + talents of photography, writing, and digital storytelling. she’s courageously chosen to listen to all those whispers calling her to take notice. to do it in the face of fear (economic and soul related). to give her voice and creative talents that matter so deeply in this world their rightful voice. this is big stuff, and i am so proud of this woman.

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before i get to this week's last giveaway (and it's a good one, friends) i wanted to ask karen some questions as she is squarely and deeply at the heart of this big life transition which is so often where the connections and universal messages live (i bet you'll recognize pieces of yourself in her answers):

karen, how long have you been an attorney and how long has your current dream of launching your creative business been tugging on your heart sleeves?
I've been an attorney for fourteen (!) years. Interestingly, I've been practicing photography for 14 years as well. I don't know that I've had this dream of having a creative business for that long -- perhaps a couple of years or so? -- because it wasn't ever a dream that I took seriously. I'd been taught to believe that the only thing I should strive for is an academic profession: hence the engineering degree and the law degree. Eventually I started to realize that every time I thought of myself as a lawyer and realized that I'd have 20 more years of practicing law before retirement, I'd start to feel tense and uneasy; however, if I thought of myself as an artist, then I couldn't imagine ever retiring.

give us three big reasons why quitting your super practical job to pursue your creative dreams is the most foolish decision you’ve ever made.
Oh, that's easy: I'm quitting my job when the economy seems to be in a downward spiral to hell, I have a 4-1/2-year-old whose college education I have to consider, and hello, being in-house counsel comes with a nice, regular paycheck --it is patently ridiculous to give that up.

ok. give us five reasons why this is the best decision you’ve ever made.
I don't think I can come up with five -- I just have one big one: As it turns out, being a lawyer was just what I did. However, being an artist, ultimately, is who I am. And trying to be something I am not was, quite literally, soul-killing.

Besides, I'm starting to believe that it's possible to actually make a living being something, rather than just doing something.

what was it in your heart and soul that finally had you deciding to leave your high paying corporate job in order to pursue your creative dream?
I realized that I found myself feeling sad every morning as I got ready to go to the office. I started worrying about work, and having psychosomatic symptoms: chest pains, shortness of breath, even as I knew there was nothing physically wrong with me. So I decided one day to go back to basics, and think about what it is I really love doing. As it turns out, I love to speak, I love to write, and I love photography. Once I figured that out, it was just a matter of determining how I could combine the three to become my life's work. So leaving my law career seemed like the only logical conclusion to make this happen.

you talk a lot on your blog about your nervousness, your fears in doing this. can you tell us what was at the root of your concerns? was it strictly economic in nature or more? and how did you work to resolve these things?
You speak like my concerns are in the past! I still very much worry -- mostly around money, of course. I'm lucky in that I'm married to someone who can pay our mortgage, but my quitting my job means cutting our income in half, and tightening our belts considerably. Doing so has made me feel somewhat selfish -- but in a way, it's made me more determined than ever to make a go of this. I have certain financial goals that I'm pushing myself to meet, at various times in the future. And ultimately, my goal is to make what I made as a lawyer within three years. For some reason, I actually think I can make this happen.

what’s been the single most important thing/person/event that has you feeling supported during this transition?
Earlier this year, I was invited by several online artists to join them in a 4-day getaway -- something which felt incredibly scary and foreign to do, but something which I felt I HAD to do. Even days before I left, when I was threatening to chicken out, my husband grabbed me by the shoulders, and said, "Karen, you HAVE to do this. There is something that you will learn from these women by going. You MUST go." I knew he was right. These women helped me to see that my photography was valid, and that I should stop comparing myself to other artists, because what they did wasn't necessarily better than what I did, it was just DIFFERENT. And ultimately, art is about expressing yourself in your very Different Way.

The retreat was transformational, and an experience I will never, ever forget.

what are your wildest dreams when it comes to your creative business?
This is such a scary question! I think my mondo beyondo dream is that I become a photographer who is famous enough that my work (primarily portraiture) is shown in well-known galleries and art museums around the world, and I am constantly asked to speak and write articles about my work and photography and art -- so much so, that I actually have to turn down opportunities.

I can't believe I wrote that out loud.

i love that your practical talents (organization, self dicipline) are lending your way to your creative talents as you take this leap. but have their been magical, mysterious scnicorociets that tell you this is exactly thie thing you should be doing? what are they?
There have been several, but the most magical, mysterious alignment was when I was talking through my decision to leave my job, and pursue a more creative life involving, writing, speaking and photography, with Andrea Scher. Toward the end of our phone conversation, she asked me, "Karen, what do you want to manifest for yourself?" And I remember my answer was timid: "You know what, Andrea? I'm afraid to dream big. All I want to manifest is some small sign, some small gig that pays a little something, and requires me to use my speaking and/or writing skills, supplemented with my photography. Just a little sign that I'm on the right track."

Forty-eight hours later, a national publication (with whom I have absolutely no contacts) emailed me, asking me to contribute an article for an upcoming issue, along with a photograph or two. And the fee they offered, while not huge, was far more than I could've imagined in my little mind. It was a lovely little sign.

how important has community been to you in making this decision as far as support, inspiration, and so on?
Hugely important. In addition to those lovely artists from my retreat who continue to check in on me and make sure that I'm staying focused and optimistic, the readers of my blog have been unbelievably supportive, sharing stories of their own creative journeys and giving me words of encouragement. I absolutely do not think I could be making a leap of this magnitude without the help and kindness of all of these people.

what advice would you give to other creative souls out there who haven't figured out how to make a living from their talents?
I'm hardly in a position to be giving advice, since I'm just starting out myself! I can just offer what I keep telling myself:

1. Believe in your creative talents. Try not to compare yourself with other artists who do similar work, despite the fact that it's almost impossible to do. Figure out what it is that you do differently that makes you special, and focus on The Different, so that it becomes second nature. It helps to keep you from the I'm-not-as-good-as-they-are gremlin, and changes the game to We-all-do-it-differently-and-my-Different-is pretty-special, instead.

2. Focus on the business. Decide what you're good at (schedule-keeping, marketing), and outsource the rest, if necessary (bookkeeping, organization). But make sure you pay attention to this aspect of your business, too. After all, you're not doing this for charity work, otherwise, you wouldn't be making the switch to a creative life. One artist recommended the book The Boss of You to me, and while it's a bit simplistic, it's a great outline of the things you need to think about when launching your own business. The trick is to know what you don't know, and get help.

what is your mantra?
These days? "Keep on keepin' on."

favorite music these days?In my old three-CD-changer I have in my studio at home, I currently have Balancê by Sara Tavares, the soundtrack of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Hideaway by The Weepies. As I answer this question, I am realizing that perhaps my taste in music is a bit ... broad, perhaps?

favorite blogs these days?
Well, yours, of course! I actually follow over 100 blogs, but I keep a list of my very favourites on my site. These days, however, I'm particularly enthralled with the images of One day files, a Japanese photoblog. I can't even leave comments, because the comment section rejects anything but Japanese characters, but if I could, I would tell the photographer I love his work on every single image.

and now for a few questions you asked me...
Which living person do you most admire?
These days? Barack Obama.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Marcus. Hands down.

Which talent would you most like to have?
I would love to sing like k.d. lang and dance like Audrey Hepburn.

What is your most treasured possession?
My camera collection.

What is your superpower?
My superpower: I can take portraits that give the subject a glimpse of how beautiful his/her spirit truly is.

Which word or phrase do you most overuse?
"Groovy."

karen has kindly offered the above GORGEOUS print for the giveaway. it will arrive signed and framed just for you. all you need to do enter the giveaway is leave a comment in this post. but there's a trick: your comment must be a response to the last question i asked karen: which word or phrase do you most overuse? i have a feeling this will be funny....

ps - i'm keeping this and yesterday's giveaway open until monday before i choose a winner. thanks so much for playing along...the entries/comments from all 3 giveaways have been really thought provoking (even the one word comments from the first giveaway - wow!)

edited to add:
ps2: giveaway #2 winner is natalie b
ps3: giveaway #3 winner is tiffany
thanks so much to everyone for playing along! winners, please get in touch with me so we can coordinate...