Your Value is not in your Productivity

WARNING: I am writing this purely out of emotion right now so I have no idea how this will go or if anyone will actually end up seeing it. I really just needed to get these thoughts out of my head and this is the best way I know how.

I love what I do.

I used to dream about being exactly where I am today. When I was in High School I used to write about my dream job in my journals. I'm literally living my dreams.

I'm a full time videographer. I created a videography business called WanderBloom Films where I make wedding videos, sorority recruitment videos, etc. I also work for a Digital Marketing company where I create videos for clients to use as advertisement and brand awareness. I absolutely love it, a little too much sometimes...

Today I had my first encounter with an unhappy client. I absolutely hate admitting that because the pride in me doesn't want anyone to know that anybody could possibly be unhappy with my work. I genuinely never thought this day would come but as I've been told by plenty of other videographers, photographers, and other creators, you are inevitably going to cross paths with an unhappy client at some point in your career, especially as your business grows and expands.

Let me just tell you, it stung. A little too much I might add...
The way the comments were worded, that feeling of being attacked, everything about the situation really. It hurt like heck.

I've talked to all of my creator friends, in fact I even googled it. Although this situation isn't necessarily a common occurrence, as a creator, it's bound to happen eventually (so i've been told.)

I just couldn't figure out why it hurt so bad. I felt like I wanted to dig a hole, climb into it, and hide there for forever. For a brief moment I was even questioning if I wanted to be a videographer anymore. Of course I do! I absolutely love what I do. So why was this affecting me so much?

That's when the realization dawned on me.

 I measure my worth on my productivity and what I create.

It hurt so much because I've never separated myself from my work. Because of that, when this person was insulting my work I took that straight to heart as an insult to me as a person.

I don't know if anybody else in the world needs to hear this, if anything I'm typing this as a message to myself.

Your worth is not found in your productivity .

Your value is not based on what you create.

What you make does not define who you are.

The same goes for work, school, hobbies, etc.

You are fearfully & wonderfully made and you were designed with a talent but do not believe the lie that that talent is all that you are good for.

If your job or your hobby or your grades were taken away from you how would you see yourself? If I'm honest I don't know what my answer would be to that because I tend to see myself as my job.

Let's learn to believe it today...

You are not what you create.

You are SO much more than that.

You are a child of the King, an heir to the throne, and absolutely nothing can take that away from you.