Top 5 Tips To Survive These Crazy Days | Kara Abbey Photography

Welcome to my official PERSONAL YouTube debut!! I have watched Derrick make YouTube videos for years & have even participated in helping him make videos, but I never thought that YouTube would be for me. I’m a blogger – I love to write. But after being strongly impacted by a few other photographer’s who have videos on their websites – I decided that it was time to take the leap & here we are!

Working with Derrick a few weeks ago on a voice-over for a video on his channel really propelled me into the place of making a few videos of my own. And then, once I opened myself up to the idea of making videos & figured out some of the technical stuff that goes along with recording – the ideas have really started flowing! I now have a whole long list of videos I want to make! I can’t promise that I’ll be publishing videos on a super regular basis – but after witnessing the power behind seeing someone’s face & listening to them talk – I definitely want to begin incorporating videos into my blog & my website more.

I’d be thrilled to know your thoughts in the comments below (or on YouTube)! Be kind – this is my very first attempt at anything like this (it was a ton of fun though!) Enjoy & thanks so much for watching!

If you would prefer to read my thoughts, over watching my video – you can read the transcript below!

I wanted to make a little video, specifically for my 2020 brides and grooms – but if you don’t fall into that category – you’re more than welcome to listen along as well.

As we head into Week 6, or is this Week 7? Regardless it feels like Day 3,942 of quarantine life – I just wanted to touch base and see how you guys are doing. I know the days are kind of tricky & hard for me, but I’ve found a few things along the way that have been helpful, and I thought that I would go ahead and share that with you, in the hopes that it would help you as well.

So, let’s go!

Tip #1 – Say Goodbye To Facebook

So my 1st tip is to go ahead and say goodbye to social media, Facebook, and yes, definitely those Facebook wedding groups that I know you all are a part of (because I’m a part of them too). Whether this means you simply take a 24-hour break and detox from social media, or you go ahead and delete the apps off of your phone and deactivate your accounts altogether, I would highly encourage you to take a break from Facebook.

I don’t know about you, but I know if I’m having a particularly down or sad or depressed day, it’s probably because I’ve had a little bit too much time on my hands to scroll social media. In those days when I recognize that, I have simply deleted the apps off of my phone and wha-la, things magically get better. I’m not that saying that saying “Goodbye” to social media is the Band-Aid to saying goodbye to anxiety, but trust me – it helps so much.

Just like if you are on a diet, you wouldn’t bring a package of Oreos or Doritos into your house because they would be too much of a temptation, I would highly encourage you to go ahead and delete the social media apps off of your phone for 24-hours, 48-hours, whether you decide to go for a weekend, or maybe or take a whole week off – go ahead and say goodbye to it and then let me know how much better you feel.

Tip #2 – Everyone is Grieving

Number 2: know that absolutely everyone is grieving something  Okay, I know that sounds kind of strange to say, but the more I have talked to friends and family members, other wedding vendors and other small business owners, I have come to the conclusion that absolutely everyone has something that they are grieving the loss of. Whether it’s something big: like a wedding that’s getting rescheduled and postponed or a vacation that has gotten canceled – or maybe it’s something small: like a date night you were really looking forward to or a birthday party that is getting canceled. [Regardless] everyone is on the same page – we’re all grieving the loss of something.

I think the sooner we realize this, the more compassion we will have for the people around us and why they do the things they do.

Tip #3 – Journaling

I would highly recommend taking some time to journal out your thoughts during this time. Now, before you completely write me off and you’re like, “Kara, we all know that you love to write (obviously)” – maybe don’t feel like you are a “writer” – and that’s completely fine.

I have journaled super-religiously and not-very-religiously over the last decade, and I can tell you that every single time I have sat down to put my thoughts onto paper I have walked away feeling lighter, feeling more centered, and feeling like I have my brain back. I don’t know about you, but my brain is just full of so much junk right now and putting that down onto paper is so helpful.

It doesn’t have to be pretty – you don’t have to be sitting in this picturesque window, with this plush blanket, your cup of tea – you know the picture that comes to your mind when you think of journaling. Just sit down and scratch out a few of your thoughts onto paper and walk away. I promise, you will feel better!

Tip #4 – Create Anticipation

I would highly encourage you to create something to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but the way I make it through difficult times and challenging tasks is I have something in the future to look forward to. And all of the things that I usually looked forward to have been stripped away from me over these last few weeks of quarantine. I have had to learn how to pivot my “looking forward to” moments to be really small things, but in the process, I have learned a lot about being grateful for those really small things. For example, I really love and look forward to the moment that Derrick comes home every single day. I really love and look forward to Sunday nights – because we have pizza on Sunday nights. Believe it or not, I’ve even learned to look forward to Wednesdays, because Wednesday is laundry day – and if you know me, you know that I hate laundry! But, I’ve learned to look forward to it because it’s something to do –

Tip #5 – Self-Discovery

Which leads me right into my last point: which is – go ahead and take a good hard look at yourself and what kind of person you are and decide what your days should look like. So, what I mean by that is: are you the type of person who needs to be busy? Are you the type of person who thrives with being productive? Maybe you’re the type of person who does better with no schedule at all and flying by the seat of your pants? Maybe you are in a season of life where you truly need to rest? I would highly encourage you to take a few moments to take stock of your own mental health and figure out where you fall – and then plan your days accordingly.

For me, I know that I need a good mix of being busy & feeling productive – especially with my business – & giving myself grace and letting myself rest & relax. So, that kind of looks like creating some videos – but it also looks like taking time to play with my kids and sit down & read. In trying to find the balance, I have found that is the magical concoction for Kara’s quarantine days – so I would encourage you to find your own magical concoction.

Okay, so I hope that you found that somewhat helpful through all of my ramblings on – apparently I like to talk a little more than I realized!

A Special Note to my 2020 Brides & Grooms:

I did just want to give you one last note if you are one of my 2020 brides and grooms: I have received several inquiries over the last few days – and I can only imagine that I’m going to receive more – of people who unfortunately, have had to move their wedding day because of the Coronavirus – moving their wedding date from either spring or early summer to the fall & they have lost their wedding photographer (which is really sad). That being said, I already had a very busy schedule, but I had strategically left gaps in my schedule to give myself breaks and to be able to show up at every wedding fresh & excited, and not run down from shooting a wedding the day before.

With all of that being said, I want you to know that I am not running out and packing my calendar to the brim with additional weddings. I am sending those inquiries off to other friends that I have that are amazing photographers who will be able to take care of them, and I’m leaving those bubbles of time that I had originally scheduled in my schedule because I’m thinking about you. What if something happens to your wedding and you need to move you your wedding a few weeks forward or a few months forward? I want to leave time in my schedule to be able to do that for you.

If you need someone to chat with – whether that’s about wedding things, life stuff, or you just want a friend to banter back and forth with for a little bit – feel free to send me a message! I would love to chat back and forth with you – especially if I can help in any way with your wedding.

Once again thank you for watching this video – have a wonderful day!