Make your Mark

Over the past 2 years I have come to embrace photography for it's utilitarian function, but in that process I have fallen in love with it as an art form.

In 2022 I purchased a Leica Camera Ltd, it was not an impulsive purchase, I contemplated it well over 10 years.

Over the past 2 years I have carried this camera with me and have documented life through a it's lens. In many ways I learned to find beauty all around me and it has made me more deliberate in the pursuit of my craft, Building Things.

This particular photo is quite interesting as it is a pr-curser to an upcoming project. The artist that left his mark on this wall is pretty famous in Houston, he has tagged many structures.

The owners of a downtown building do not appreciate his art and have asked me to remove it. I wonder if his name, REMUV, is more like a act of defiance knowing that what he has created will not live forever.

The irony in leaving your mark is that we never really know how long it will remain. This photo that I have taken will live on indefinitely in the digital world, it will long outlive the artist that drew it and the man behind the lens.

Did I ever imagine I would be Building Things, not at all. If life would have gone as I imagined it in my 20's, I would be a VP of an O&G service company. I would be coming up on my 25th work anniversary and would have a fat 401K and stock portfolio.

Instead, I started over and have built companies that repair the structures that keep us warm and the buildings that we go to for work. I am making my mark each day by giving the very best that I have to each opportunity I am presented with. Some days I give all and receive no compensation, yet, I do it anyway and await the next opportunity.

In the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill there is a section on the major attributes of Leadership. I was always drawn to #6 . THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR.

Last week I posted about keeping count, this week it is about leaving your mark. As I wait for answers on the many, many, many estimates I have produced this year, I am always reminded of #6, Do More than paid for.

The coolest part of leaving my mark is that I never know where it will exactly be, I have to trust in the process and continue pushing forward.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for following along with the story.

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