You might notice its been a bit quiet around here the past couple weeks. For the past couple years, during the Christmas and Easter seasons, I’ve worked at the mall, taking pictures of kids with Santa and the Easter bunny.
Now, when I quit my job in a mall portrait studio after 3+ years, I relished the thought of not having to spend my time cooped up inside the mall, especially around the holidays. But, this opportunity came open a couple Christmases ago, and I couldn’t turn down having a little extra money for presents. Besides, between Christmas and Easter is the slowest time for weddings and portraits (though Easter is exceptionally late this year).
At Christmas, I got to feeling especially down and, I’ll admit, rather sorry for myself. I didn’t enjoy being stuck in the mall, being so busy around the holidays or–as much as I really do enjoy what I actually do there–being back into the retail mindset of “reducing waste” and “increasing average sales.” I get very excited about holidays, especially Christmas, and I started feeling like I should be able to just sit at home drinking cocoa, watching It’s a Wonderful Life and wrapping presents each evening instead of, ha, working.
But! I realized I was being ridiculous. At Christmas time, I had three jobs: Santa, teaching my photography class, and running my own business. All related to photography, all allowing me to directly use and share the thing I’m passionate about. How lucky could I be? And, now, I do have an additional part-time job, which might add a little stress, but is such a blessing a a time when so many people I know are struggling to find any work at all.
So, yeah, it’s still a pretty lame job. I stand around in the mall, asking kids what they want in their Easter baskets, sitting them on the lap of a 16-year-old girl dressed in a bunny suit and taking their pictures. But, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to make a little extra money. I feel awesome when I can pull out my MotoPhoto trainin’ to get just about any screaming kid to smile. And, more than anything, I couldn’t be happier than to get to take hundreds of pictures a day–because thats the point, right? Even if they ARE pictures of kid in a bunny suit.