In November of 2018, I left my full time job to pursue photography full time. Every month since then I’ve blogged what I learned from the previous month. This is the last one!

This morning I Googled how to prevent the shell from sticking to a hard boiled egg. I searched for this a couple of years ago and had read that salting the water helps, or adding a splash of vinegar, or letting them sit in an ice bath for two minutes. Like a cure for hiccups, these things worked once and then never again. I decided today it was time for another peek around the internet to find a new solution to this problem. I found a new game changing tip from a few different sites that advised adding your eggs to already boiling water. Huh. This was new. I had always added them to cold water, you know, like potatoes. Interestingly, someone had the same thought as I did and confirmed,

“I think this “cold start” egg myth came from the fact that potatoes actually do need a cold start. When you give potatoes a cold start—meaning that you put the chopped potatoes in a pot, cover by an inch with cold water, then boil—they actually do have a better texture and cook more evenly.”

Just last month I hit two years of being a full time photographer. I surprised myself by keeping an ongoing monthly journal for the whole two years, a project I would normally fall behind on and then give up on shortly after. But this one kept going, mostly because I really wanted to be able to prove that even if I failed, it wasn’t a waste of time. I also wanted to share my journey with anyone who wanted to read along. What I didn’t want though, was to outline a path for someone else to think they should follow. I didn’t want to make people think that if they just “did as I did,” then they would walk the same road, finding and seeing the same things I found and saw, because that’s not what happens. What might have been a really great move for me, might have been a terrible move for someone else. And what I might have walked past might have been the opportunity of a lifetime for someone else, because we are eggs and potatoes. What a brilliant lesson to end this series on, right?

Jumping into boiling water might make me perfectly cooked with a shell that slides right off, but the same thing might make you gummy and lumpy. We aren’t all built for the same life. So if you’re a creative, looking for a way to turn that passion into a happy life for yourself, here are three things I know:

1. Strokes of genius happen only in the middle of a project, never at the beginning. That’s why they tell you to “just start.”
2. The reason you have a roof over your head now, the reason you have food on the table now, the reason you have a car to drive now, is all because your past self took care of your present self. Trust in your present self to take care of your future self.
3. You shape your reality by believing things that might not be true, but will become true as you keep believing and keep taking actions that will bring that belief into being.

I know your path is going to be beautiful and filled with creativity and inspiration. I know you’re going to surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. I know you’re going to pick up pieces along the way that build you into the highest version of yourself. I’m grateful that you’re here and while this monthly series is coming to an end, I will still be here writing my story as it unfolds.

Denise Karis is an Arizona photographer who enjoys musicals, Doctor Who and breakfast burritos. IG @denisekaris

To read the rest of my Going Full Time Series, click here!