My Sister: Cindy

Ok, I have an amazingly talented family. I was at a lunch today (with some amazingly talented women) and my friend asked me if I came from a creative family. I started thinking about each person and they are all awesome in their own little way. Maybe I'll do a little blog and embarrass each of them!

Today, we'll start with Cindy because she just posted some beautiful pictures of our kids on our family website and I am so...I can't even think of the word...happy, proud, excited for her. She works so hard to become the photographer she has "pictured" in her own head. She is a perfectionist and her own worst critic. She always has been. While we were growing up, she always wanted to excel at everything she did, and would get frustrated if she didn't measure up to her own expectations. I love her drive. She works hard. She studies. She applies what she knows. She studies. She works. She progresses. I used to sit with her to look at her pictures and she would get frustrated and say, "it's just not what I want yet. But I'll get there." She would turn away from her screen and sigh. Now I sit with her and look at her photo's and she is starting to look pleasantly at them. She is liking what she sees. She has worked so hard and the evidence is evident. (Did that make sense?) Her photo's are evolving. Taking on a natural, artistic feel. They seem so natural. Beautiful. Effortless. But don't let them fool you. They took effort and work. Years of it. But isn't that what work is for. So we can learn to put sweat and tears and frustration into something that we will later be proud of. Something we can feel good about because we put a little of ourselves into it. The refining of our talents. Refining of ourselves. A little of our Heavenly Creator coming out in us.

Speaking of creating. My friend Donna Dewberry http://www.onestroke.com/ said something once that I think a lot of us can relate to. She said something along the lines of: We are the spirit children of the Ultimate Creator. It is in our genes to create. I know some of us just HAVE to create. We can't hold it in. We're not supposed to. We are here to learn to be more like our Heavenly Father, the Creator of all things. Don't hold it in. Be inspired.

Here are some of Cindy's inspirations. Check out her blog at: http://lilypstudio.typepad.com/

She is going to have a website up and running sometime in the near future. For anyone who wants to book some fun "creative" time with her you can find her contact info on her blog.

Photo's curtesy of Lily P Studio and Design Co. http://lilypstudio.typepad.com/