Wrong side of the lense.

Hey Steemies!

It's my birthday, for the next twenty something hours, I'm turning 34 ( I think) so I thought I should make this post more about me and my personal journey thru life and some of the things I may have learned along the way. I suppose I never post any pictures of myself in the locations I visit, seems like a perfect opportunity, Don't expect it all the time! I do not like being photographed at all. @silvergingerman has to sneak most of them when I'm not paying attention...hehe.

I grew up on the shores of eastern Canada, more specifically in rural northern New- Brunswick's Baie des Chaleur. The scenery was beautiful since I was living in the Appalachian mountains along with the bay, best of both worlds right! Work opportunities were slim to none, I was in my early 20's and I couldn't picture it get any better so like many of my generation, I left for the sake of my future. With 90$ in my pocket, I packed up my 2 cats and a suitcase full of clothes and flew far away to Alberta ( about 4500km if you don't know) and started a new journey. I enrolled as an apprentice with the boilermakers union and eventually got certified as a welder and continue to take part in major oil and energy infrastructure projects. With that being said, If you are of the new generation of adult, here is my lesson/ wisdom tip #1:

Don't be afraid to take chances or to walk away from a situation that threatens your peace , even if no one else agrees with it, follow your instincts. Set dreams and follow them, you are your only limit. Life is short, create your own opportunities.

Being on the topic of life is short, well live it! Don't put off the things on your bucket list because there is always tomorrow, that's a lie, there is no guarantee of being here tomorrow. I'm shocked I even made it to 34 yrs old! I was born with a food allergy/ auto immune reactions that progressed over the years. In other words for those who don't know much about anaphylaxis and all that fun stuff, I have a food trigger ( soya, and it's in most of north-american foods) when I come into contact with it either by either eating, touching or airborne contaminants, my immune system cannot distinguish between good and bad and attacks everything, including my own organs and blood. So yes my immune system tries to kill me. To sweeten the pot, my airways swell shut cutting my oxygen and slowly shutting down my organs( heart, brain...) as they get attacked. Thankfully a bunch of needles and a trip to the hospital can make all that go away in a few hours, it leaves residual damage and the meds add a whole new set of dangers but most of the life threatening part is under control . I share this with you because it constantly reminds me of my mortality and how precious our time here on earth is. Lesson/ wisdom tip #2:

Here today, gone tomorrow. Go for that dream vacation, climb that mountain, apply for that dream job, ask that person out. Don't focus on what could go wrong, could have been or what held you back. Sometimes life is shit and it gives you things you don't know if you can handle, they are not roadblocks...just obstacles meant to steer you in a different direction towards your true potential. Change what you can change, some things you just have to accept and learn to live around it and still be free while you can!

I never wanted to be one of those who can't take care of themselves because of health status, maintaining a career means some of the time, I have to hide my illness at work and learning establishment because of potential exposure all around and being in a safety sensitive line of work, you need a piece of paperwork to fart( it's exaggerated but it's getting there), surely they wouldn't let me work there if they knew to what extent. Boilermaking isn't glorious work. It certainly is dirty, physically and psychologically demanding in various type of situations most would consider dangerous or insane for long hours( 60-80 hrs/week) and minimal days off for weeks or months. Work is unstable because most of the work is short term contracts in various plants but it pays descent that I can support myself the rest of the year and it allows my body downtime to recover and rest, which is what led me to photography. Being in these extreme conditions and some of the time with the added pressure of being in isolated northern work camps can really crush someone's spirit and suck the life out of anybody that's why it's important to find something meaningful to come back to reality, that my friends leads me to the next lesson/wisdom tip #3:

Life is about balance, in today's day and age, especially if you live in an urban area, it's easy to lose yourself trying to keep up with the world around us, our friends, our families, our careers remember they will never stop, take a break, smell the roses, appreciate the little moments. Commit to a hobby that will bring you peace and joy that will make you forget about this hectic world for a moment , commit to yourself...your sanity depends on it!

As a child, being in nature and wilderness was always my " safe place" when things got questionable in my mind, I suppose as an adult things aren't much different, now it's more where I recharge my batteries than an escape but the concept remains the same, it's my peace. Visiting all these locations and the beauty of the world around us, I thought I needed to capture some of these moments, given many of my friends still live on the east coast, I wanted them to see what I see and my journey and that things were ok ( secretly I want some of them to move here...shhh) Turns out I'm not half bad, lots of room for improvement but it's part of the fun and maybe I should consider photography as a quiet retirement career( I'm still long ways away, lets not get carried away... hehe) . I'm still shy about sharing my photography and aspect of my life to strangers but so far it's been a fun experience. One of the realization that came to mind, many people of the world will never get to travel and it would be impossible for anybody to see all of the world in a lifetime, why not share on steemit, and we can collectively see the world thru each other's eyes or camera. As a child, I never could have imagine the technological advancements of the last 20 years being from an analog childhood where we used rotary phones and rabbit ears, I was a teen when I first heard of internet and it was super slow, our version of downloading a song was wait all night to hear that song on the local radio station and hope you could record it on a cassette and the dj wouldn't talk during the beginning of the song and cross your fingers the tape didn't get jammed up in the meantime...I'm sure some of you can relate but some are probably clueless to what I just said. Lesson/ wisdom tip # 4:

Set goals bigger than you can achieve and be flexible for change and adapt your goals accordingly, believe in yourself and don't be afraid to think outside the box. We are often our own worse critic and we are more capable then we give ourselves credit. By setting goals out of reach, you may not get there but it will take you out of your comfort zone and gain new experiences and take you higher then you thought you could ever go. Life and technology changes quickly and the world as you know it could change at the snap of a finger, also opening new opportunities for those who can spot them and adapt( hint hint...steemit).

Yes, I'm standing in the cold lake...well sorta, there were a trail of rocks going into the lake that I balanced my way to the shot I wanted,my boilermaker ninja skills comes in handy in theses situations. I suppose that's why I get some of images I do, I do stupid things for them hehe. Now back on topic, I'm glad I stumbled upon Steemit by accident, maybe it was meant to be all along. I never thought in a million years I would ever write, it was never my thing, I prefer reading. Writing has given me a chance to better analyse and sort my thoughts along with improving my english skills ( my first language is french). All of your support has helped me realize that this could eventually take me and my hobby to new heights if I keep practicing and improving, who knows what doors this platform could open once it goes mainstream. I'm still not fully comfortable doing it and self conscious, most of the people I know in real life don't know about my new found hobby and writing certainly doesn't come naturally to me but each post gets easier. That being said, it brings me to the last but not least of lesson/ wisdom tip #5 :

There is always room for self reflection and personal growth. Challenging ourselves to try new experiences and push thru uncomfortable but non threatening feelings, we discover parts of ourselves we never knew existed in return discovering hidden abilities to grow and explore while overcoming shortcomings and gaining confidence.

Well if you sat thru my birthday rant, I applaud you! YOU'RE THE BEST! Seriously, thank you for all of your support for the last 6 months, every view, every follower, every up-vote, every resteem or mention THANK YOU XOX.