I overheard a conversation between a pair of friends at a coffee shop recently. Casual small talk, catching up, sharing life updates. The scene was set for this shared joy: a beautiful garden with exotic plants, cushions on the ground for seating, and tiny little espresso cups filled with the most full-bodied coffee you’ve ever tasted. I’ve never been to heaven, but I swear it has to look like this.
I was somewhat mindlessly tuning in to their words. Granted, this conversation happened in a Guatemalan lake town, and thus, entirely in Spanish–an area of somewhat comprehension for me, but leaps and bounds from fluency. I tried to gather bits and pieces of their sentiments.
“Poco a poco,” or “little by little,” one said. Both parties seemed to share their personal experiences with new business ventures. The trials and tribulations of trying to create community and connection in small spaces where people gather. I resonate with the feeling that it’s not enough to be the only one who sees your vision through; you need others who stand by you, support you, and believe in what you’re trying to build.
I’ve lived through a lot of different dreams: my dream college, my dream to become an OT, my dream to live elsewhere and start over. Some of these things I have achieved, and some I have not. The path has not always been linear.
I think of them as tiny pieces–moments where things aligned perfectly for reasons I couldn’t understand. Conversations with people whom I was lucky to meet face-to-face. Visions that I thought about over coffee and hastily jotted in my notes app.
It can be scary to go through your twenties with a million different ideas about who you want to be, where you want to “end up,” and what you want to create. I used to think I was the queen of coming up with the plan, and then letting it pile up on a desk untouched. I’m learning to see the ways in which everything is interconnected. Pieces that eventually add up. It doesn’t happen all at once, and some days it doesn’t happen at all. But I carry the same passion and fire with me through my day job, my slow midwestern city life, and my tangled twenties.
Art is that fire for me. Creating reminds me how much I love living. The start of this business has been five years in the making, but every piece has added up. I’ve been fortunate enough to share so many moments with people, photographing the happiest days of their lives. Even typing that feels surreal…the fact that things add up in a way that lets me be a part of those moments.
I kept feeling like I needed this idea to be complete to start: a perfect website, curated feed, a beautiful portfolio. I fear that if I wait for that moment, I’ll never get to do what I love to do in the first place.
So here goes nothing, but simultaneously, everything. Diving headfirst into something that feels somewhat scary but more so magical and incredibly fulfilling. I hope you can come along with me as it all comes together, poco a poco.
