The other day I was sitting in class and we were talking about stereotypes. They started naming off some stereotypes, like when you think of a taxi driver you think of someone from the middle east. Or how there are a lot of Mormon dentists (are there a lot of Mormon dentists? This one doesn't seem super fair...let's be honest-there are just a lot of dentists in general)
One girl raised her hand and was obviously very opinionated about the topic and said (in a not so nice way) "every girl who has a camera thinks she is a photographer. Just cause you have a camera or Photoshop does not make you a photographer." The guy behind her was like "yeah! It's ridiculous!" She continued on to say "and every single Mormon mommy blogger out there and is also a photographer on the side of course." As I listened I started to get a little angry. Obviously I like to blog (I'm not a Mommy blogger yet...but still) and I also love photography and taking photos and it takes more than a camera to be a photographer (not saying that I'm professional....at all).
Her comments stayed with me the rest of the day and I had such bad feelings about it. I vented to my husband about it and just couldn't forget it.
I finally came to the conclusion of why I was so bothered by her comments. They were rude. They were calling out people for having hobbies and doing things they like. That to me seems so stuck-up and rude. You might get bothered thinking "everyone" with a camera thinks they are a photographer. But how about instead of being bothered by that, you embrace it. Be grateful that if you ever want pictures taken-you have a ton of people that are excited to help you! Appreciate their good photos and their hard work. You might be annoyed seeing people post blogs about life but you don't have to read it and if you do read it, maybe you'd appreciate one of their stories, one of their thoughts. You might learn something from their blog or maybe you'd find some inspiration.
I don't know where someone gets the right to judge others for their hobbies, their interests. None of us are going to apologize for our photos and for our blogs. And we don't have to. I think everyone in this world has the room to grow and be a little kinder. Everyone has their own hobbies and things they enjoy doing. Just because a lot of people enjoy the same thing-doesn't give anyone a reason to attack someone for it.
Keep doing what you love! Don't let anyone take that from you.
Rant over. Let's all be a little kinder, yeah? :)
