"Sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step back and get a little bit of a different perspective and re-evaluate things." ~ Unknown
Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namasté. 🧘🏽♀️ It's been a while since I've written a blog about photography and things have been all over the place in recent months, specifically since November 2025, working two jobs but it's a conversation for another time and place. I had or still have my project on hold on wanting to self-publish a book on Blurb Books. I've originally began this as a class project for the spring semester of 2013, although I had already passed the class and it will mean the world to me if I complete this photography project. The first book will be in black and white, and the second book will be in color, but both will have the same concept of them being street photography. There may be a third book, but it'll mostly be a family themed book but let's see what happens with my first two projects and I'm feeling pretty hopeful but optimistic about finishing my first project. Once I finally am in a better position to have my Minolta X-370 repaired, it should be a green light, and I am very much looking forward to going on my photography walks as a form of self-care and therapy. As a single mom, I need time alone (though it's encouraged), and I can't be a mom 24/7/365 because there will be moments I need solitude to actively pursue my own hobbies and pour back into myself so I can be a better person to myself, a better friend, a better mom, a better cousin, and the list goes on. I need to do something that makes me happy for once since I'm temporarily stuck at a retail job that isn't doing me any type of justice but in some way, there's some form of gratification when it comes to assisting customers before I'm told to go back to what I was doing before being approached by customers with general questions. I guess you can say I'm more of a Janitor at my retail job and wait until the day I quit, I'll be celebrating but don't expect me to tell people at the bar that they're getting free drinks as Oprah Winfrey told her audience that they're getting a car. I have a full-time job that's better because I work forty hours per week and the hours are very much consistent in comparison to the eight hours a week at my retail job which is below part-time hours if you ask me!
"Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is better than following whatever makes money." ~ Naval Ravikant
I am hoping for this full-time job will be my ticket way out and not worry about how I'll make ends meet, however, I'm fully aware it may not be enough to fully pay or keep up with the monthly cost of living here in New York City. Anyway, I find photography to be very therapeutic and yes, granted not everyone finds photography to be therapeutic since we're all into different hobbies that we find therapy and joy in. I would love to get into photography but lack professional experience and I'm not fully sure if I'll need a college degree to show that I've completed my studies in photography. I don't want to say yes that you need a college degree just to work as a photographer. I don't know if it makes sense to think that way! Well, if I do decide to go back to LaGuardia Community College. For now, I still have a student loan from TCI and I'm looking to focus on that before I worry about anything else (such as any vacations or anything to do with socialization with my peers). I don't need people adding more to my plate when I'm already dealing with my own dilemma of having to pay down the maintenance that accumulated over the past year that haven't been kept up with after my mom had been in and out of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset for falling.
"If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit." ~ Banksy
Aside from what's been going on, I've gone for a recent mammogram, and they've found an abnormality in my left breast. Overall, I feel fine and I know feeling "fine" may not mean anything. I don't want to miss work all because of an appointment at Queens Hospital, and I'm aware that my health is way more important than a paycheck. I currently work at Parks Department and it's a seasonal job for six months. I'm aware that I need to prioritize my health over any job, any relationship, or any friendship. I'm not saying they're all bad, but I feel they could and should take the back burner so to speak. It's something I'll leave as is without having to overly explain myself to people who barely have more than two brain cells.
Blessed be,
Jennifer
