“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” ― Dr. Seuss

Today was one of those days where you’ll always remember where you were like when Whitney, Luther, Tu-Pac, Michael, and now Prince passed away. It was hard today, I felt so many emotions and wanted to just cry.

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Today we lost a legend, not just for his musical ability but his ability to not be defined by society’s standards and live outside of the box. I’ve been preaching about living and being #unboxed for about 6 months and today it finally hit home for me.

Prince, his royal highness, was THE example of not fitting in and being successful .

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Often in the photography community, we (I’m saying we because I’ve done it too) do what everyone else is doing to fit in and get the fans. Ironically, Prince has given us permission to not give a *beep* and color outside of the lines. Forget the actions, fake skies, light & airy, tilt shift, the Holy Grail of workshops, or whatever else trend is in this week. Go and be your own creative mastermind and shoot however, whatever, or whoever you’d like.  Take on a creative project and explore. Be different and own it.

Tonight, I tried to “You Tube” some Prince and have my own pity party and you know what happened. Nada. Why? Because he didn’t believe in selling your life, royalties, and rights away to the big dogs. I could start an entire rant now about digital files but I’ll save that for another day. Prince was a creative and actually stood up for his creative process and control of his affairs. I’m inspired to go and live creatively without thinking about what will so and so think about it, or if it will be featured, or if they’ll love.

I’m reminded now of the fragility of life and it’s perfectly ok just being me: unconventional, funny, caring, and creative all in my little world.

RIH Prince- Thank you for being the legend of creative and giving us creatives permission to be different and #unboxed from society’s standards.

 

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Tomayia