What is the better Investment?

 

I read an interesting blog post by a fellow photographer (unfortunately, I can’t remember who it was) and I could not have agreed more.  It expressed my sentiment so well that I wanted to share it with you. 

Choose the Right Investment

A lot of times, you hear the word investment used loosely.  You have time investments, emotional investments, and of course – financial investments.  Now everyone agrees that stocks and bonds are an investment, but is photography really an investment?  I might be a little biased, but I think it is a wonderful investment.

Let’s say you had an extra $1000 sitting around the house and couldn’t decide how to spend it…I know, a good problem to have!  Obviously, there are tons of options for you to choose from, but I’d like to just narrow it down to three.

Fun with $1000

The first option would be something Dad would love – a 50” plasma TV for the den.  Weekend football just got a whole lot better! Depending on how much television you watch, you could get a lot of enjoyment out of this over the next several years.

Another option would be something Mom might vote for – a new sofa for the den.  You could pick out something very traditional or maybe a really cool, trendy piece that will change the look of your den.

The third option would be a portrait of your family or your kids.  Lets say they are 16 and 18. You decide on a nice canvas portrait to hang over your fireplace – something that goes beyond what they look like and shows their personalities.

Looking ahead

Ok- you’ve made your choice and all three are working out splendidly.  Every day you walk through the den and admire your darling children on the wall.  In the evening you relax on your new comfy sofa and watch some television on the big screen.  Life is good!

Fast forward 15 years – a reasonable time for any investment.  The sofa isn’t doing so well.  It is showing the signs of age with a few stains and small tears. You will likely drag it out to the next garage sale and pray someone gives you $25 for it.  By the end of the day you’ll be hoping someone just takes it for free – just to get it out of the garage.

Unfortunately, the TV isn’t faring much better.  In fact, it is highly unlikely you still have it.  You have probably already replaced the television you bought to replace the original 50” unit. If you DO still have it, you would probably be hard presses to get $25 for it at a garage sale.

 

 

The portrait however, is a whole different story. Your kids are now 30 and 33 – they have moved away and started their own families.  Instead of seeing them every night at the dinner table, you now see them everyday hanging over the fireplace.  If someone showed up at your home and offered you $25 for that portrait, you would laugh.  Heck, someone could offer you that original $1000 back for the portrait and you would never take it.  Why?  Because you can always buy new sofas and televisions.  Once your kids are grown, however, you can’t buy portraits of their childhood. 

Priceless

There just aren’t too many things you can buy today that will be guaranteed to be worth more to you in 15 years than they are today.  A beautiful portrait of your family will never go out of style.  In my mind, that makes it a wonderful investment.

What do you think?  Have you had similar experiences?  Leave a comment and let me know!

A little bit pregnant…

 

You can’t be a little bit pregnant!

Things are so different now than they were when I was when my mother was pregnant with me or even when I was pregnant with my son (25 years ago).

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Even though it was so many years ago for me, I still remember never being happier than when I was carrying my son.  I felt beautiful, healthy and happy.  There is something very magical about being pregnant. Even people who have difficult pregnancies somehow can’t get over the overwhelming feeling of grace and bliss they feel (between all the morning sickness and swollen feet). I remember my mother sharing her fond memories about finally getting pregnant with me (she tried for 17 years to get pregnant) and how excited she was.  I even remember my grandmother talking about her greatest joy in life was being pregnant – knowing she was going to bring new little life people into this world. Three generations – all remembering the same feelings.  And even though pregnancy and childbirth is very different today than it was during my grandmothers time (who literally gave birth in a potato field to two of her children) the more the feeling about it stays the same.

Tears of Joy

I was watching one of those shows on Lifetime TV the other day where the woman are delivering their babies and every single time a baby was born I’d cry.  There is a common bond between women and childbirth that is unexplainable.  I’d cry with joy for that new baby and the new mommy. I remember being one of my dear friend’s Lamaze coaches (many years ago).  Her husband just didn’t think he could do it. Oh my how I cried when that beautiful baby was born – it was truly a miracle to me.

Do we really glow?

This picture set is of Nicole.  She is 7 months pregnant and beautiful.  We were talking about how pregnant women simply glow, they say it’s the hormones but we (mommies everywhere) know better – it’s the pure JOY inside radiating out to the world around us saying: “look out world, my child is on the way and he/she is going to make a difference in this world.  You just wait and see!”

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