Gail at the Pyramids – 19 years old

We had friends over this past weekend, and we started talking about technology and the impact it’s had on our career, photography and life in general.  I was talking about traveling and how much different it is now in regards to ease of communication and staying connected.

When I backpacked around the world, as a solo 19-year-old woman in the early 70’s, I pretty much left most communication with my family and friends behind.  In a year’s time, I probably only called home 3 times and it was a lengthy and expensive process, going to a call center and waiting until an operator could put your call through to the other side of the world.  And there wasn’t any Internet or email or cells phones and texting.  When I left home for that yearlong sabbatical, I was really going out on a limb as far as disconnecting from the world I knew.

I’m always asked, “Were you scared?”  I suppose I was afraid at times, when I thought about what I was doing and what could go wrong.  But most of the time, I was too much in awe of what I was experiencing.  I was very tuned in though, to my surroundings and I quickly developed a sixth sense about people, determining if they were good or bad.  Those instincts stay with me to this day and have managed to keep me safe in my travels.

I could not have imagined what the future would bring to my life in terms of technology.  The world we live in now is far different than it was some 40 years ago.  We are more aware – of other cultures, world politics and global news.  You would think that would help in bridging the gap of understanding between different cultures.  I think it has in many ways, but we have a long way to go.

Our fears keep most of us from “daring” to do something different, especially if our life seems to be working.  Usually, it takes a big change in our lives for us to muster up the courage to face the unknown.  And when we do venture outside our norm, we are almost always glad we did and wonder why we had hesitated for so long.

I’ve been lucky.  I had parents who encouraged me to take some risks.  When I was hesitant about doing something, my dad used to say to me “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” and when I couldn’t come up with any really horrible potential scenario, I’d take the plunge and face my fears.

I wonder, what’s in store for me now? The future hasn’t been written yet and the choices are mine to make.  Is it scary?  Only if I imagine it that way.  The story isn’t over yet.

“My Voice” and not being afraid to use it.  To be truthful, there are plenty of times that I’m afraid to exercise my voice, but I am much more fearful of the consequences if I don’t.  There have been times when I have distanced friends or made colleagues step away from me because I have spoken up for what I feel is the right thing to do.  It is never easy but I would rather live in a world where I fight to give my protagonists the right to exercise their voices, rather than be quieted by them.

To be born at a time in America when all it’s people had a shot at the “American Dream”.  Sadly, that has changed over the last 40-50 years.  It used to be if you got an education and worked hard, you could provide for yourself and your family.  That dream has become harder and harder to achieve as the gap between the “have’s” and “have not’s“ has widened. How much wealth and power is enough for the smallest percentage of Americans?  And why does it come at the cost of so many? I am a true patriot of this country because I still believe that we can get back to the beliefs and principles that our country’s founders held true.

My health even though I pray each day that I remain healthy.  Even though I spend a small fortune for my annual health insurance premium, it comes with a very high deductible.  Because of the high deductible, it’s really catastrophe insurance and in paying the rising costs of those annual premiums, I find it very hard at times to find the necessary funds to cover the out of pocket costs for preventative care.  How does that make sense in a civilized country  – that only the very wealthy or the ones lucky enough to still have benefits at work can afford to maintain their health?

My family and friends.  I have come to learn the true importance of having a family and a handful of friends that I know I can really count on to always be there for me.  We may disagree at times and even become estranged, but it’s those “real” relationships that have weathered the ups and the downs and are my foundation.

That I have shelter, food and other basic human needs because so many people don’t. I have traveled far and wide throughout my entire life and have seen the desperate situations that some people have to live with in all corners of the world.  But I don’t have to go far anymore to see first hand, homeless people and hungry children.  It’s so easy to turn a blind eye to those in need and make judgments about how those folks got to that point.  It’s so easy to tell yourself that there is nothing you can do about that and that you can’t possibly help all those people.  But it’s really not that difficult to do even the simplest of kind acts for somebody who doesn’t have as much as you.  Try it and in doing so you get so much more in return.

My vision and that I’m bold enough at times to trust it .  Sometimes, it is far too easy to follow the trends and think that is the safest route to take, but in the process you end up robbing yourself from who you really are and have to offer. Whenever, I have looked into my heart and followed my path, good things follow.  It may not happen immediately, and along the way the “misses” sometimes are more than the “hits”, but I know if I stay on course, it will lead to what I am meant to do.

What are your thankful for this Thanksgiving?