I signed up for Beyond Layers to learn to be more creative with my photography. Our first assignment is to share our story. Hmmm I didn’t expect that. I almost didn’t participate, but that is not my style. When I am expected to do something I do it. So here it goes….the good, bad and the ugly.
My story is I am oh so ordinary. Does that sound terrible to you? To me it is the best thing I could ever be. It is quite a miracle that I am ordinary and that my life is pretty simple and maybe even boring. It is just how I like it.
I guess to understand what I am you have to understand what I am not.
Well first of all I am not headline news that reads baby and mother dead by gunshot wound to abdomen. Yep my mom was shot when she was pregnant with me. What makes it worse is my dad is the one who shot her. We both survived and she stayed with him until I was 5 yrs old.
I am also not a user of drugs, seller of drugs or a thief to get drugs even though my dad is all those things. He also made me do drugs when I was 4 and 5 years old. I believe he is once again in prison and that’s a good place for him.
I am not an alcoholic although my mom was until she took her life 12 years ago when I was 29.
I am not a hoarder although both of my grandmas hoard.
I am not an abuser even though I watched my dad and then my mom’s boyfriends beat my mom regularly. Although it scared and scarred me, it did not ruin me.
I am not a victim. I choose to use all the things that are shocking and seem horrible as examples of how not to be. I choose to be ordinary.
I am a college graduate and I have practiced dental hygiene for 20 years.
I am a wife and have been married for over 16 years.
I am a mom of a 13 year old boy who only knows a normal life.
I am a runner, photographer, and creator. I am dependable, loyal, and honest. I am a giver and not a taker. I am really good at lots of things, but I don’t excel at anything.
The photographer part is pretty new. I have been learning how to be a photographer for about a year now. I call myself a photographer even though I am not a professional. I take photos almost everyday so that makes me a photographer right? It has become quite a passion for me. I try to learn all I can. I take continuing ed classes at our community college and online classes like Beyond Layers. If I won a lottery I would spend a ton of money on photography equipment. I have to restrain myself almost everyday.
I love my dogs like they were my kids and I love being home with my family. I will give a lot and I expect a lot. I am judgmental to a fault because I expect the best from people.
I am not perfect, but I am not my past.
I did have good things happen in my childhood and I have happy memories. I almost didn’t share all the bad, but it shows you why I feel special living an ordinary life being an ordinary person.
So that’s my story…………
