My SOAR! Story

December 2009 was a crazy month in the Sharon household.  Not only because of the excitement of the holidays, but because I was scrambling to put together a 2 minute video to apply for the SOAR! photography scholarshop,  offered by Me Ra Koh.  I wasn't one of the 3 selected winners, but I feel like I actually did win, in another way.  Let me back up...

The scholarship was announced on December 1st, and the video submissions would be due by December 21st.  Crazy, crazy timing.  I cried reading about the opportunity that would be given to the 3 women who would win - a year of self discovery in the form of workshops, business coaching, software tutoring, not to mention the gear and other tools they would receive.  I initially shrugged it off, thinking I'd never have a chance of competing.  But that night, I woke up at 4am out of a sound sleep, a fully formed idea for my video complete in my mind.  Not something to ignore...  My amazingly supportive husband encouraged me to go for it, and I ultimately did, making changes to my idea along the way.  Both Jim and Carter appeared in the video with me, at times, and I could not have completed the video at all without the editing skills that Jim determinedly acquired all for me. 

I may not have won a scholarship, but making that video broke me out of the state of paralysis I'd been in, and helped me to get MOVING again, towards my dreams.  The day after the 3 winners were announced, I started this blog.  And the momentum is building - I hope my readers see evidence of that here this year. 

Another amazing effect of the SOAR scholarship race was the effect it had on all the applicants.  There were 263 videos submitted, and during the month leading up to the announcement of the winners, we became a community.  We chose to lift each other up and support one another, rather than be competitive.  We have formed regional groups, and we have a forum where we will share where this year takes us.  Most of us plan to follow along with the 3 winners, completing the same photo assignments and business coaching exercises. 

And that is my SOAR! story.  Now you'll know what I'm talking about when I post photo assignments, etc.  And at some point I hope to show a blogroll on the sidebar here, that will include many of my Soar Sisters' blogs.

Whew!  Ok, I'm posting this longest-to-date blog post, and next up will be my January photo assignment.

Thanks for being part of this journey with me!