Life Happens

Coming out of hibernation to talk about life lessons and how sometimes they come from unexpected places.

In case you haven’t heard the news, Amanda Palmer recently canceled her upcoming year of touring to play the role of supportive friend for one of her nearest and dearest who is battling cancer right now.

Personally, I applaud her for this. She’s had a lot of momentum going in her favor with the kickstarter and new album, and taking the year off could potentially do a bit of damage (not to mention disappoint a lot of fans who eagerly awaited their next chance to see her), but the choice had to be an easy one. Someone she loves is hurting. Of course she wants to be there for him, as he was there for her so many times in the past. Easy. Right?

And that brings us to the lesson for today: Life happens.

Whether you want it to or not, things are going to happen to put a wrench in all of our plans. Jobs will fall through, loved ones will get sick, but whatever it is you just have to push through until you make it to the other side. It’s always easier when you have a great support system. I should know…

I’ve been looking back a lot on the past year, as you typically do when another one approaches its end, and I’ve realized all of the things that distracted me from keeping this and my photography website flourishing like I originally hoped. To put it short, life happened, and all of my energy got put towards staying afloat in a sea of problems. I’ve lost jobs and gained new ones, and had the same with relationships. I celebrated a year living in Brooklyn, and then was somewhat forced to move. I’m sitting in a room surrounded by bags and boxes now, all of which will be given a new home tomorrow.

But back to my point… Through everything I have found that as life happens, you quickly find out what has become my number one rule in life – People are more important.

I’ve told my friends this many times, because it is something worth repeating.

People are more important.

So yeah, Amanda canceled her tour to support someone she loves. Duh.

And yes, I would drop everything in a heartbeat for the people who matter most to me. I would hope that they would be willing to do the same. Because at the end of the day, as much as you love your job, it’s still just a job. It’s the people in your life that make it worth living. And when life keeps happening, as it tends to do, those are the people who will be there to help you get by.