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Welcome to my blog, where I share highlights of everything from my client's wedding days and portrait sessions, to recent features and our adventures around the world. 

Hi, I'm Alicia.

Working to Live vs. Living to Work

Jan 22, 2015

A few weeks ago, my sweet friend Kat blogged about living life more intentionally, not just in business, but in our every day movement (it’s an awesome post, you should read it here). It was a post that deeply resonated with me; lately I’ve been thinking about the philosophy of living to work vs. working to live. In 2014, I lived the former. My each and every day was so focused on growing my business that I barely stopped to breathe and eat, let alone enjoy a night off with Rob and Granger.  And I can truly say it paid off – I shot 16 weddings, 14 engagement/couples sessions, 3 styled shoots and booked many clients for 2015. But, as I found myself not having time for a glass of wine with friends or being weeks behind on Scandal (a near crime, I know), I had to ask at what cost.

Work is not the be all end all of life – no matter what you believe in, the fact remains that we are on this earth to do more than work. Our lives are short and should be rich in precious memories; a well-lived life is one that is full of the things that make us happy.  Photography makes me happy. Building this incredible business from the ground up makes me happy. But so does binge watching Netflix, afternoons at the dog park, and eating at new restaurants. It’s easy to take things too far, to become exhausted and empty in our search for success — so through living more intentionally in 2015, I plan to find a better work/life balance that supports all those things.

This change is in no way going to be easy or happen overnight; I need to consciously choose to have a better balance because no one else is going to do it for me. I’m in the process of developing, for lack of a better word, a business plan – except in this case not for my business, but for my daily practices. A plan that tells me when to start working and when to turn off each day. Tells me how much time is okay to spend on social media and lays out how much I should (realistically) expect to accomplish on a daily basis. This will all be trial and error; there isn’t a magic answer out there that works for everyone. And until I discover what works best for me, I will be giving myself a bit more leniency and grace to experiment.

This isn’t to say I’m not going to continue busting my butt this wedding season; I stand by all of my goals for this year and am SO excited for the kickoff of the 2015 season. But as I told Kat, I will be living and breathing intentionality right beside her this year, focusing on what is best for my family and myself because THAT is what will make be a better business owner for my clients.

Washington, DC wedding and anniversary photographer, Alicia Lacey, takes a look back on the best anniversary portraits of the 2016 season.

 

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