I have been thinking a lot about finding my calling. That “one” thing I was put on earth to do.

Part of me says there is no cosmic chalkboard anywhere saying Kimberly VanNostrand, crazy cat lady who takes pretty photos, and that my calling is whatever I say it is. The rest of me says there has to be some larger reason why I’m here.

During all of this thinking about my calling – or life path, or purpose – I started thinking about what other people’s callings could be.

It’s difficult to discover what I am here to accomplish. It’s impossible to determine someone else’s calling. Strangely, it’s very easy to see why someone who has passed away was here.

I lost my friend, Jay Proetto, suddenly last November. At the time, I was too busy with practical things like getting the legal right to make his funeral arrangements, but as the months have passed and the grief has dulled into something tolerable, I can think about the gifts he brought to my life.

Jay was here on Earth to create connections between people. Because of him, I have met and come to love some truly incredible people. People I honestly can’t imagine not having in my life.

What does this have to do with my calling, you ask?

I photograph things that people will, hopefully, find beautiful. I’m not the type of person who makes friends easily, so I make connections with my art. In short, I create, and I hope you like it.

Really, that’s the point of art: To connect with others. Most of us write our story with the intent to publish – we want our work seen. Very few people create a story knowing no one will ever see it. If that’s what you really want, go for it. It’s safer, with no risk of criticism or Internet trolls, but you lose out on knowing your work has had an impact on someone.

I recently read The Art of Work by Jeff Goins. This could be why I’ve spent so much of the last couple of weeks thinking about my calling. Here’s my two sentence summary: Great book if you’re interested in making changes. His point is that to discover your calling, you have to put in the effort to do so.

As always, prints of my photos are available on my Fine Art America gallery!