It has been a while since our last blog post. Over the past several weeks we have been focused on our stores at Zazzle, our articles on Squidoo and generally considering the overall direction for the future. We have also spent some time working on our main web site at RGebbiePhoto.com. The look and style have been redesigned and much of the content was updated.
It has been an interesting year so far, many changes, both in our personal lives and for the world. Stability and security seem to be top priorities for most people now, and we are fortunate to have reached that goal ourselves. So, with old goals achieved, we are starting to map out our future goals, and seeing what the rest of the year has in store for us! The re-vamping of the websites is one of our first projects, and we are hoping that brings more traffic to our commerce sites as well. We plan on working more on the personal growth writing, and hope to start a lecture and discussion group soon. We are also looking at opening a gallery site here in Las Vegas, the prospect gets closer and closer for us.
We invite you to view our updated websites at RGebbiePhoto, and to visit our Zazzle stores. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think!
There are times when the road less traveled can be the quickest path to reaching your goals. In our personal and professional lives the common path can often appear the safe and steady route to our desires. While the process may be tried and true the road is mired with overwhelming numbers where few emerge or find a clear, open journey to achieving their dreams. Getting noticed and standing out can be challenging when a person travels the same path as a multitude of others seeking similar rewards.
Forging your own way in life is rarely an easy task, to venture into unfamiliar territory or brave untested trails; it is often an adventure that can lead to experiences and destinations that would not have been encountered otherwise. Individuals that step out from the masses to define themselves may face the possibility of failure but also have the chance for great discovery. When a person has passion, drive and desire, the road less traveled may present the opportunity to explore and grow in their experiences and knowledge.
View each day as a new beginning; be open to both the challenges and rewards that come from pursuing the things you desire in life. Make the most of good and bad experiences alike, learn, grow and thrive as an individual, become the person you aspire to be.
Most people dream of a life filled with happiness and success, but the reality is few truly end up having the life they want to lead. Even when someone finds fulfillment in one aspect of their world, they will often find disappointment in many others. The journey from birth to death is often a struggle, the path ahead of us seems to always be filled with obstacles and impasses, and that is how it should be.
As much as even I hate to admit, if we began life with a contract and guarantee, few of us would ever make it beyond our living room couch. The things we struggle with most are usually the same things which lead us, as individuals, to our finest accomplishments and understandings. The greatest achievements of our species often come from learning to overcome that which causes us the deepest pain or dissatisfaction.
Little is ever gained without a purpose or reason for pursuing it. If our journey through life was absolute satisfaction, there would be little, if any, inspiration to carry ourselves forward, and the human race would have long ago become extinct. It is in our desire to have or become greater which give us, as individuals and a race, the purpose to move forward in all that we aspire to be. They say “a rolling stone gathers no moss”, yet by the same token a person who never moves becomes stagnant and dies. There are always bridges to be crossed. There will always be new adventures just up the road or around the next bend of life. Humans are creatures of great imagination and creativity, and our desire to achieve greater and greater heights in our existence give us the purpose we need to continue reaching forward from one day to the next.
If you did not have a goal to reach in your life or career, what purpose would you have for waking up each day? What need would you have for carrying forward? Who and where would you be if not for the lessons learned from overcoming the obstacles you have already faced?
Take a moment to pause and account for all the things you have already achieved, look back and acknowledge the progress and struggles you have overcome to get where you are today. There is a lot to learn from examining our personal failures, if we can look past our disappointment and see the true lesson. For all that we wish and desire to become there will always be a price to pay in getting there. Look to the future, remember that tomorrow presents endless opportunities to learn and grow. Have faith in yourself, find strength of will in the mountains behind you and carry forward to greater days ahead.
The greatest treasure mankind has to offer cannot be purchased with silver or gold, but must be earned through the experiences in life’s journey. More valuable than the world’s most prized piece of art is the knowledge and wisdom humanity has gained in our short existence on this planet. With a fantastic imagination and the ability to learn and adapt the race of man has evolved from cave dweller to space explorer.
With everything that people have and can create, the most precious item of all is the one that usually gets overlooked, which is ourselves. In today’s busy and rapidly changing world, it can be difficult to find time for improving as individuals. With career and family obligations, and the random chaos that interrupts daily life, people often neglect dedicating time for them self. When individuals understand who they are inside, they are much better equipped to deal with the world outside.
No amount of wealth can make a person content if they are not first happy with themselves. The world can be a hard and unforgiving place, relationships, careers and possessions can all be taken away from individuals throughout their lifetime. The things you seek today can quickly become the stuff of distant memory tomorrow. When an individual can love and accept themselves, they can find peace with whatever their future might hold.
So if you want to shine up your most precious gem, or put another coat of polish on your greatest treasure then look inside and better yourself. The finest creation humanity has to offer, individually and collectively, is who we are as people. There is no gift more valuable than when people give of themselves.
When every day you live becomes your greatest adventure life is an experience you are anxious to greet. While the concept is simple, the task can be overwhelming to accomplish. Maintaining hope and optimism from one day to the next can be a daunting chore in itself. It is always easier to have faith in an ideal than it is to live up to one. Daily events and the chaos of life can make it a challenge to consistently stay unwavering and on track in a person’s endeavors or journey.
For me, the greatest adventure has been to learn, grow and evolve as an individual, following my dreams and developing in directions I would have never explored without the opportunities my journey has afforded me. Each moment is a chance to learn from people, information, and environments around us. Everyone has the chance to better understand their world when one chooses to observe. Understanding the effect a single moment can have on a person’s progress is paramount when seeking to find one’s own self. The truth is often difficult to find, and even more of a challenge when we seek such honesty of ourselves. To understand the world outside we must first know the world within.
The fewer number of obstacles that obscure a person’s vision, the more clearly that individual can see a path to accomplishing their goals. When self improvement and growth are included in an individual’s endeavors, they will continue to excel towards their long term dreams. The desire to better ourselves and evolve as a person is not an overnight journey, and takes a lifetime to reach. The moment one milestone or pinnacle is accomplished, another will present itself and remind us that there is always more to learn and understand. Every individual must discover their own path and define their journey by the maturity, experience and desires of that person, themselves.
In my experience, every step forward presents a larger vision. Through observation and discovery, I have found a greater understanding of myself and the things around me. This forward evolution has helped to balance my life and bring me a peace and happiness I have never known before. The deeper I explored my own misperceptions and obstacles; the more clearly I understood the people, events and actions that molded me into the person I am. The deeper this understanding, the simpler many issues became. Small matters of guilt and emotional stress became much less significant matters to dwell on.
Most people spend a large amount of time discounting the knowledge and experiences of others. Many of the things we are told get judged and discarded without much consideration. Too often, individuals will hold onto the social, emotional or conceptual notions they have developed in their life, and quickly disregard the varied experiences of others. Even in the closest of relationships people often say and do things from a point of view limited by their own very personal experiences. One of the most valuable things a person can do to improve is to close their mouth, then open their eyes and ears to observe. Approaching people and information without pre-conceptions or assumptions is not easy, but will open a path to learning and understanding.
Everyone has more to learn, and each individual has something worth contributing. When people accept that others have lives and experiences which may be different, but just as valuable as their own, they can then see a larger perspective. When people can perceive a wider view on their world, the smaller less significant worries cease to be an issue in blocking success and happiness.
How often do people talk about the things they want out of life, but do very little in regards to fulfilling them? Wishes and dreams are wondrous things. The Human mind can create worlds of fantasy, take us on trips to locations we have never been, or develop the next greatest time-saving device. From contemplating what may exist beyond our corner of the universe, to examining our own existence and environment, human imagination and ingenuity enables our species to evolve and develop.
Concepts and ideas without action are the dreams and aspirations we leave unfulfilled. Even the best of intentions will never yield results, if no one acts to produce them. The happiest and most successful people that I have encountered seem to all have one thing in common; they took action, and made decisions that led their lives in the directions they desired. A cart will never carry a load if no one builds, loads, or supplies the energy to move it. It takes more than words for thoughts to become accomplishments and achievements.
When an individual has drive, passion, and desire, almost anything is possible. The most destructive force in blocking them from achieving their goal is self-doubt. It is the responsibility of the individual alone to define the path they desire to follow with their life. If your path meets a dead end, then you should build a new road. Know that each new day presents an opportunity to learn and grow in the direction you wish to travel.
Personal, Environmental, or Career Ambition; To create positive change, a person must make decisions and positively act on them to achieve the goals they desire. From seeking spiritual enlightenment, to climbing the corporate ladder to CEO, the things we strive for take effort to reach. It is often the journey, and not the destination, that lead people to their greatest advancements in personal development. When a person strives to learn and grow, the obstacles overcome today easily become the stepping stones for success tomorrow.
Every adventure begins with a first step, much like other routines. The more often it is practiced, the more familiar it becomes. Make a concerted effort each day to gain knowledge from experiences. Small gains today lead to greater success in the future. It has often been observed that steady progress eventually results in accomplishing a person’s goal, even when the destination seems beyond reach at the beginning of the journey. The dreams envisioned today may lead to the advances made the next. Believe the goal reachable, and strive to make it happen.
Have confidence in your work. Often, the hardest person to convince an idea is worth striving for is ourselves. Trust in your own value. Believe that, with effort and perseverance, you can accomplish your goals no matter how difficult or lengthy the pursuit may be. The technologies and comforts of today were the concepts and fantasy of yesterday. Dare to challenge the boundaries that exist now for the possibilities presented tomorrow.
Don’t allow others to block your passion or desire. Even Don Quixote found his place in history from the pursuit of his dreams. Own your wishes, no matter how the future unfolds. The things a person envisions are theirs to hold onto and believe in. Whether you are inventing the next wheel, or simply convincing yourself tomorrow will be a better day, you are capable of great accomplishments when you believe in yourself.
Everything comes with a price. It takes effort; do not expect others to build your dreams for you. While it is always nice to have the support of others, you must guide the path your life takes by the choices you make. Even if the dream is shared, both individuals must have the passion and desire for success. Taking a passive roll by allowing others to make decisions, or standing on the sidelines, will not lead to the destination one wishes. Rather, it leads to the other individuals destination. While individuals do not have control over every experience that occurs in their lives, they do have the power to strive for the things they wish to achieve. When empowered with the ability to make decisions about their direction in life, a person has choices about the destiny they arrive at.
The choices a person makes, and the actions they take, have great influence on where their journey leads them. When a person has control over the path their life pursues, their chances for success improve greatly.
We are pleased to announce the launch of our new main web site at http://sites.google.com/site/rgebbiephoto. We have grown and expanded dramatically in our creative endeavourers since beginning our journey in January of 2008.
Today as we look forward into the future it is our plan to develop this site into the main “hub” of our activities. In the near future we will be obtaining a dot com (.com) address and expanding the current layout to include more information about the services and creative projects we are involved in as well as a means to connect and follow our artists.
Our RSS or optional e-mail subscription feed are located on the blog or main site and will carry announcements, articles, links, updates and information to keep friends and readers current.
We hope you find our new site easy to navigate, and encourage visitors to leave feedback with us at RGebbiePhotography@yahoo.com or RGP.Robert@yahoo.com.
We have lots of things in the works for the future so stay tuned and join us for our journey.
Loree Morris has been a friend of ours for several years. Recently, between jobs, she started working with us. She helped with uploading our backlog to the Microstock agencies we are part of, and began to help with outside sales. Loree had to find full time employment, so she no longer works regularly with us, but she’s always here to lend a hand when we need her! Here, she offers another piece of our story:
I met Robert and Lori several years ago and was privileged enough to be let into their lives. Robert at the time was working at his j.o.b and although I knew he had been an artist and a photographer, he wasn’t really actively pursuing it at the time. I could see a special light in his eyes when he’d talk about his art or show me something he had created in the past, but a look of sadness often followed it. I don’t think he even knew it happened.
As life events unfolded and took us in separate directions for a while and I eventually left the country for an extended period of time, we didn’t get a chance to communicate as often, but still kept in touch from time to time. When I returned from over seas, life events allowed us to spend more time together and I remember the first time I saw them.
They had just started on the path of micro stock photography. Robert was behind the camera again and had that light in his eyes again, only this time it never faded to the sadness look I had seen in the past. They started telling me about what they were doing. Both so full of passion that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. They showed me the websites and explained their idea of what they wanted to build. They showed me what Robert had been shooting and even asked me to get in front of the camera for them.
Over the course of the last year, I’ve had a chance to get a very in depth view of what they are creating, the learning, the struggles, the joy, the sorrow, the stress and the amazing creation of some of the most artistic pieces I’ve seen anywhere.
Robert has an amazing ability to create art in away that captures the very soul of what or whom he’s shooting. I’ve seen him take a few simple objects and display them in such a creative way that the photo is amazing. When he shoots a model, he has such a natural way of putting them at ease. He makes you feel as if you’re the most beautiful piece of art he’s captured. He see’s beyond the physical…he see’s true beauty.
Lori is also very creative and has taken some beautiful shots as well, although their styles are different, they both bring such a creative eye to everything they shoot. They balance each other in many ways artistically. The man Series is my favorite. Not only does it show the raw emotions of Robert, Lori’s eye while shooting that was amazing. Her ability to capture those emotions is just an example to me of the passion they both have for what they do.
The business has gone in avenues neither of them expected at first and they’ve had such great accomplishments in such a small amount of time. The knowledge they’ve learned and the growth I’ve witnessed myself amazes me every day.
I’m truly glad I’ve gotten to see this Dream from the inside, two amazing people, creating such beautiful artwork. Sharing a passion that is rare in this day and age. I can only see this Dream being a reality!!!
