Week of Love: Are you a dabbler or are you committed?

In this week of love, a question to ponder:  Are you a dabbler or are you committed?

Hey, both are fine.  I dabble in a lot of things;  I’m truly committed only to a few. I dabbled in romantic relationships before committing to my partner twenty years ago.

I’ve dabbled in languages but never progressed beyond a second-grade level. I’ve plunked on my keyboard, but I’m no virtuoso.

But we found this receipt recently. Commitment.

In 2006, after dabbling for a year or so, we committed to our photography business.

Which wasn’t a business at the time. It was a beloved hobby.  We’d gotten a couple of low-paying gigs — headshots, an event — for which Brett used the same battered camera we’d carried with us for 13 months of backpacking around the world.

This receipt is for our very first order of professional camera gear. The first assets of Deutsch Photography (no “LLC” then, no “Inc.” like now).

As you can see, TWO cameras, a couple of lights, batteries (because you know — multiple gigs), another lens (because we were going to branch out to different kinds of shoots), and more. 

It was scary to move from dabbler to committed.

We began hunting for gigs on Craig’s List — headshots, weddings, family photography, hospital newborns, bar and bat mitzvahs — basically anything.

We converted our apartment bedroom into a “studio” (laughable now, but it served us well for two-plus years), and moved ourselves and our dog into the little home office space.

We had NO idea of how to run a business.

We bought “how to” books. We joined business networks. We printed business cards.  

We weren’t just dabbling anymore, but in it to win it. Committed.

And that commitment changed our lives.

When is a time in your life that you crossed the line from dabbling to commitment?