Today’s installment of a two-part post comes from guest author Amy Jackson. (Read Part 1 of Amy’s story here.) This post is part of a series called On Her Way–each of these posts features a woman telling her own story in her own words. If you have a story of transformation to tell and would like to be featured here, please get in touch via the Contact link above.
Do you remember me saying I kept the house in the divorce? Yeah, that house that I couldn’t afford on my own?
During the same seven years I spent with my ex-boyfriend, I ended up with an excessive amount of bills. Between the bills and the massive amount of repairs the house needed, I just couldn’t afford the house any longer. So it went into foreclosure, and I filed bankruptcy.
To make matters worse, I received the “get your ass out” papers right before our last breakup. So now, not only was I dealing with break up woes, I was also freaking out over the “Where will we live?” question.
Obviously, these matters don’t happen overnight, but the “when” is never a cut and dry time frame. The move led to a five-month court battle, just to move five miles. Who knew moving across the state line was such a big deal when you have joint custody of a child?
Unfortunately, all that I had done to improve my self-confidence and self-esteem was now trashed again, thanks to the bankruptcy. I felt like I had failed my son, like I couldn’t provide enough to keep the only house he had ever known.
Of course, my son was upset about the move. But it only took about two months before he came up to me and thanked me for moving. He’d made tons of new friends, he was in a better school district, and he was doing better in school. He no longer worried about kids stealing his stuff ( I’m still trying to get him to realize he always needs to be cautious with this) on a regular basis, getting tackled by a “friend” and nearly getting knocked unconscious, or getting shot at with a BB gun. Yeah, those were real things that had happened at his previous school, They aren’t happening where we are now.
I’m so much happier for the move and what I’ve learned! I’ve realized that sometimes things appear bad, but you can usually find a silver lining. I won’t say I’m happy to have experienced all of this, but I’ve learned a lot about myself, my strength, and my resolve. It has given me a better outlook, improved my ability to handle money, and it has motivated me to do better and be better.
For instance, photography has been a passion of mine for several years and it’s been an intermittent side hustle, but just recently I’ve decided to shoot (pun intended) for making it a full-time gig. So I started a business called Learn Blog Photography, and I’m going to make this great! I want to show my son that anything is possible. Dream BIG, little man, and you will be successful! My business is still a baby but it’s growing!
My focus is empowering bloggers to ditch stock photos and to take their own. It’s not the tool that makes a photo great; it’s the photographer. I want to teach bloggers what they need to know so they can fill their webpages with beautiful photos, save time, and save money. Oh, and the best part is that you don’t need a fancy camera to do it. Yep, you can even rock cellphone photos!
However, I also know that not everyone enjoys the photo aspect of blogging. So, for those people I also offer Done For Your Biz – Custom Stock Photos, which are stylized and branded to your website. Oh and did I mention, I love it? I am having the time of my life. I have a new boyfriend and couldn’t be happier.
I know that things can only get better from here, and now I combine two things that I love: helping people and photography. It’s amazing what a little knowledge, self-esteem and self confidence will do!
Amy is the founder of www.learnblogphotography.com, where she empower bloggers to ditch stock photos and learn to take their own. She also offers “Done For Your” stock photo services for those who don’t want to learn to take their own.
Amy is a single mom to her 13-yr old son, who happens to share her passion for both skiing and photography. Amy is proud to be able to leverage her lifelong creative outlet and teach others how to benefit from photography.
You can also find her at:
Facebook: LearnBlogPhotographyPrivateMembersClub
Twitter: LearnBlogPhotog
Instagram: LearnBlogPhotography
Pinterest: LearnBlogPhotog
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