I'll Be...

"I think I'll be a writer."
"Why?"
"It's not hard. I blog for my friends."
"Those don't count."
"I wrote something really good for a class once. Everyone liked it. Does that count?"
"Only if you write well consistently - day after day, month after month, year after year. Once just isn't enough."

"Well, writing has to be easy - no office to go to - I can write at home. The words are already there, all I have to do is put them together."
"But which words will you pick - will you agonize over each and every one? Will you write and rewrite until it's just what you want to say? Is what you want to say worth saying?"

"Maybe I'll be a photographer then. Taking pictures can't be all that hard."
"Oh?"
"Sure. I take snapshots all the time."
"Those don't count."

"Once I took a really good picture - a pretty sunset - nice trees, good color."
"You took a good picture once? A photographer photographs every day, month after month, year after year. Consistently original photographs over a long period of time are the mark of a good photographer."

"But photography has to be easy - all you do is snap the shutter once you see the picture. I could just travel and snap pictures."

"But, what will you photograph? And how? Will you agonize over exactly what is included in the frame? Will you photograph and re-photograph your ideas until they are expressed just right? Are you photographing what you've seen before (just another cliché), or because it or your feelings are new? Are you photographing the subject or Light? Are you making a picture of its surface or your insides? Are you snapping a button or releasing yourself with the shutter?"