Why Now? Why This Blog?

As you may or may not know (I don’t know who’s going to be reading this. You could be my mom or my best friend or some random person from Sarasota. I just don’t know) I’m heading to Ireland for an extended period of time. Could be two weeks or could be 3 months, at this moment I don’t currently have a return trip booked. Either way, I thought this would be a great place to share thoughts, my work, and thoughts on my work while I was gone.

Last time I was in Europe I kept a Tumblr called CoryDoesEurope (it’s still up if you want to see it, I got locked out of the account so I can’t delete it.) There was a little bit of negative feedback from that one because my overall attitude was quite… critical. In my defense I wasn’t in a great place at the time. Mentally that is, not physically. Although my hostel in Brussels wasn’t exactly in a charming neighborhood and my one in London was literally just the back room of a pub with 2 dozen bunk beds and a couple bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Anyways, I really did enjoy my time there despite my general mood and I enjoyed writing about my time. So I wanted to do it again, but take it a little more serious. I’m going to carry a notebook with me that will just be notes on what I’m seeing, people, conversations I hear, thoughts I have. I also have my own personal journal, but don’t expect any excerpts (a girl’s diary is private). So this spot here will be a combination of the two. An expansion of the notes I have and a sharing of some personal feelings and thoughts. I want this to be something I can continue to update after my time in Ireland. Something I can be proud of.

I’m also doing this to keep myself active in terms of writing and photography. I go through phases with both where I do it for an extended period of time and then abruptly stop and don’t look at it again for months. I’m thinking having a platform I have to pay for will motivate me to keep it updated regularly. I had a Facebook page set up for my photo work but recently deleted it. I never updated it or shared it plus I wanted to distance myself from shooting families, wedding’s, kids etc. That was never an area I wanted to get into. I quite honestly only got into it because they paid well. But, I was never happy with the results. There’s 1, maybe 2, weddings that I’ve done that I’m proud of (sorry guys). I’m my biggest critic and I put so much stress on myself during them that if one thing would go wrong I freaked out. I did a reception in November and right at the beginning my flash completely died. I was so upset over the results that I went into a heavy depression. It’s not healthy to keep doing that to myself. I’ve got a wedding to do in June and then I’m done with them. Them being shooting weddings, not the couple.

Well… that was unexpectedly heavy.

Anyways

What I’m getting at is that I want this to be a place where I push myself creatively and personally while I’m living abroad and then after as well.

Got it? Great.