The images this week are still from Troll Falls but they feature my wife Celine and our pup Aspen. An interesting thing occurs when you get married and have a dog (or for other people, kids); you have to increasingly be less and less selfish with your time and decisions. A lot of people might view that as being negative but in reality it forces you to mature and grow as an individual. You're not able to recklessly spend money on things you simply want but rather have to always be thinking about if that money could be used towards something that would make the lives of the ones you love better. Being selfless is never easy and my own selfishness was evident soon after getting married. Figuring out how to balance what you want and what someone else wants feels like an awkward dance at times and can really be uncomfortable. I think working through those sorts of instances brings growth for everyone involved, which creates a stronger relationship afterwards.

     I say all this because when it comes to important decisions, like where to live in the future, taking all things into consideration can be a struggle. Celine and I aren’t too sure where we want to end up but we know that friends our age need to be there and they mostly live south. I tend to have the problem of pondering so many ideas, or maybe even fantasies of different life paths, it’s easy for me to lose track of reality and the now. There are so many things I want to try, which makes me worried about attaining any sort of contentment. I could write an entirely separate post on that but I should conclude. I guess I’m saying I have no idea what the future has in store but I hope that we can spend it with friends and family in careers we find fulfillment in. I think my current dream is to live in a beautiful location with my work in a gallery, leading workshops or sharing my passion for photography with others to show how it can be used to create change in our world. Regardless of what I end up doing, I know I want Celine there with me and Aspen tagging along.

     Thanks for reading everyone; the next few weeks of posts will consist of a highlighted image with a description or back-story to it and then the rest of the outtakes from that particular trip. I hope you enjoy them and I’d love to hear any feedback or advice you have.