Why We Do It

I spent 2-3 hours yesterday with my potter/photographer friend Ron. I'm planning to offer my services to fellow artists/crafts folk photographing them and their work for their promotional materials etc. and I needed some samples of what I can do. Ron agreed to be my victim. Of course we spent a lot of time talking about the trials of marketing our wares and Ron told me the following story (parable).

Three craftsmen went to a bar for a beer after the close of a fair they just exhibited at and they were commiserating over the difficulties of making a living in crafts. After a bit another man came over to them and said "I've been listening to you and I'd like to make you an offer. I'm extremely rich. I'll give you each a million dollars if you tell me what you will do with it." That sounded pretty good and they all agreed. The first craftsman said "I'll quit this business, buy a farm down in Virginia and raise horses". The second said "I'm quitting too. I'll invest the money and live off the interest as I travel around the world". The third thought a bit and said "You know... I actually like what I'm doing. I complain about it, but I even like doing the fairs. I think I'll just keep doing it until the million dollars runs out."

We create the things we do because it is who and what we are. If anyone wants to offer me a million, I promise to keep doing until the million (and I) are all used up. :-)

Photo: Canon 7D, Live View mode (camera inches from the window that  main light source), 1/25th sec. @ f/6.3.