I saw this quote that aligns with my philosophy of Live, Love, Laugh, Sing, Dance, Be, Do and thought I would share a post about the reason I like the quote.

Live, Love, Laugh, Sing, Dance, Be, Do, Anclote Key, FloridaLive, Love, Laugh, Sing, Dance, Be, Do

Before I get to the quote, I’d like to explain why I used this photo of myself, taken by my best friend Patty in May of 2005. Patty’s husband, Steve, took Patty, their daughter Melissa, and me out to Anclote Key on their boat. Anclote Key is an island located in both Pinellas and Pasco Counties and is about 3 miles off the mainland of Florida.

I was an amateur bird photographer back then but hadn’t brought my bird gear out to the island. I had a small Nikon bridge camera in my hands when this image was taken. Patty liked to sneak up on me and take photos when I wasn’t expecting them to be taken. She’d probably still be doing that today if we lived closer to each other.

But I digress.

Even back then I had already had my share of run ins with a few sexist, male photographers that made snide remarks to me or about my gear. At that time I used a shorter focal length lens.

I’d remember their names then tell them where they could find my photos on line. Quite often I would never hear from them again or once in a while they would email and tell me that they really liked my photos.

Back to the quote in the image above.

“You can’t control how other people receive your energy. Anything you do or say gets filtered through the lens of whatever they are going through at the moment, which is not about you. Just keep doing your thing with as much integrity and love as possible.”

Nanea Hoffman

The Gulf of Mexico and storm clouds from Anclote Key, FloridaThe Gulf of Mexico and storm clouds from Anclote Key

The photo I was taking while my photo was being taken.

You see, I don’t know what “they” were going through when those men made snide remarks to me or about my gear. I knew even back then that how they reacted and what they said was about them, not about me. They didn’t know me or my work at all.

And like Nanea’s quote, I just went about doing my thing, being me, with all of the passion I had for my subjects and nature. I let the tide carry their negative messages out to sea. It didn’t matter what the negative message was. I simply kept being my authentic self.

Mia McPherson and a tipped over Australian Pine, Anclote Key, FloridaMia McPherson and a tipped over Australian Pine

We don’t control how other people receive us, it truly is all on them. It is wonderful to Live, Love, Laugh, Sing, Dance, Be, Do. If other people don’t like it, all they are going to see is me continuing to be authentically me.

Life is good.

Mia

See this post from not that terribly long ago that kind of goes along with this same theme: Addressing A Strange Comment