Gratitude

Today is to be counted as one of the best days of my life. I'm what you might call a professional self-doubter, so I was utterly astounded when I found out this morning that my Desert Globemallow photo won a prize in the Orange County Register's wildflower photo contest. Me?! Yes! Second place in the "Nature & More" category.

I am so grateful! I am so lucky that a special lady I used to work with read about the contest, thought of me, and told me I should enter. She's one of those people who's always thinking of others, and look at the result she produced. Plus, I only informed a couple dozen of my friends about the contest and posted it here on my blog, yet my photo received 246 votes! How wonderful it is that people take the time to do things like that for each other. I didn't win the popular vote (the winner had over 80,000 votes!), but I sure confirmed I have great friends.

This is also the first time I have ever won anything based on "talent" rather than luck. My photography became a more serious adventure only recently. I somehow found the courage to start putting it out into the world, and it seems this prize must be my reward for taking that risk. What a pleasing surprise to have my creative efforts validated.

THANK YOU to everyone who is so supportive of me and this creative journey. To honor your kindness, I will attempt to become less proficient at doubting and second-guessing myself!