Are you a Dabbler? For a long long long long time I felt like there was something wrong with me. I had interests. I’d pursue them and find, more often than not, that things came pretty easy. Then as I moved up the scale in knowledge/experience, the difficulty would increase, the improvement would slow down, and my interest would Suddenly be sparked by something else.

I remember in college, half way through Applied Photography, I complained to a friend, “I just can’t seem to focus…” Undoubtedly this elicited a dorky photography joke about auto-focus and we all laughed. But my frustration was all too familiar.

After graduating with great marks and working in the commercial photography industry for a few years (as a half-hearted assistant more interested in the catering cart than studio lighting), I found myself at York University studying International Development and Spanish… for a while.

“Why am I like this?” “What is wrong with me?” “When will I find my path? What am I meant to be doing?”

I’d start something new and do great. Then over-confident, I’d slack off, stop doing great, and get “bored”. I've dabbled in just about everything. But until recently I could never PUSH it; I could never cross the threshold into expertise.

I am now 32 years old, and I can say for the first time in about 20 years I have found a path. I’m not saying it wont change – change is inevitable, and the only thing you can truly count on is unpredictability – but what I feel now is definitely different.

I have decided to write a series about this process - my continuing journey of becoming an independent entrepreneur.

Following your passion is not easy. I hope my experiences speak to you as you work towards your own dreams. Comment below, or just contact me straight up for support, a laugh, or a shoulder to cry on… (seeing as this is one of the scariest trips there is, crying does occur.) Because when you're putting your vulnerable side out in front of the world, it helps to know that you're not alone.

Wow. It's my first ever blog post in Sweetheart Empire... What to say? I didn't plan to write anything at all until I was "ready". Ready with what, you may ask? Oh I don't know: some photos, an announcement about the "launch", an actual website that's got content or even a logo? Nope - I've got none of those, yet.

But someone recently told me to Start Before You're Ready. And I was just sitting at the kitchen table on this bright, wintry day, working away at the preparations, when I was overcome with excitement (most likely caffeine-induced) and decided to write RIGHT NOW.

So I'll tell you what I know:

It's 2013 and after 8 years of shooting weddings with my amazing friend, Rudo Vacula, I've taken the leap and am starting my own wedding photography company - one that embodies the personal care that I feel for both people and pictures!

Rudo and I will continue to shoot together often. Yet the time has come to fly higher, try something new and try something on my own.

I hope that what you will see before you, this blog, will be an expression of my passions and inspirations:

• Creating genuine, caring connections with people
• Living life in the present moment
• Being honest and human, with both brilliance and flaws
• Photographing other people doing the same

It has taken me 32 years to learn that the freedom I crave in life comes when I am open and accepting with myself, with my heart, and with my fears. I know this may sound cliché, but that is honestly what I am going through.

I hope that by taking the step into the unknown with me, you will also see the beauty and feel the caffeine-like surge of anticipation, possibility and wonder, that life holds for us - whether you're in love, learning to dive, singing on stage for the first time, or taking any leap that requires hope, faith, adventure, risk, and trust > all at once. HERE WE GO!