the one about national geographic

the one about national geographic

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Last week I attended the Marriott School of Management Closing Social. Every year the MSM puts on this event with good people, good food, and an amazing speaker. This year there was a swanky piano player in the corner, delicious cheesecake, and Greg McKeown. Greg is a writer for the Harvard Business Review and he talked a lot about how decisions affect our life and shape who we are. He emphasized the importance of determining your priority, because there can only be one.

After he finished his remarks I took the opportunity to thank him and spend a few moments talking with him one-on-one. Soon after our pleasantries were finished Greg asked me what I would do if I can anything in the world. Without hesitation I answered, "National Geographic photographer!" He then asked me why I wasn't doing this. What was stopping me from doing exactly what I wanted to do? (Granted, I am doing what I want to do. I love business and am ecstatic about my upcoming internship.) Regardless, I have thought a lot about this question. Why am I not trying to be a photographer for NG? And why do I think that I have to choose one or the other? Why can't I be a force in the business realm AND be a photographer for NG?

As I have wrestled with these questions I decided to do something about it. This morning I submitted a photo to NG for publication. It is a picture that I took while I was in Jerusalem two summers ago. It's a simple picture; there's nothing extreme or particularly unique about it and yet there is something beautiful about it.

I took this picture just inside the Dome of the Rock in Israel. This man has his own story, his own perspective and for a moment our story was the same. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it makes sense to me. That's why I love photography and NG. It allows you to share a moment with someone whose life is so different from your own.

I don't know if my photo will be published or if anyone besides my dear readers will even see it, but I'm glad that I submitted it. I am glad that Greg McKeown challenged me to take the risk and go for what I wanted. It's a liberating feeling :) I love business, I love photography and I'm figuring out a way to do it both! I guess the crux of what Greg taught me is this: If there's something that you want, go get it :)