Boston Wedding Photographer | Nicole Chan Photography

The last few weeks have been especially treacherous in several different ways.  Yesterday marked the start of an avalanche.  Okay, maybe ‘avalanhe’ isn’t the right word.  I picture coldness, snow, and being buried.  I certainly do not want to be buried.  *shakes head.  No.  Staying afloat is a massive priority.  I suppose it’s the inception of a timeline, of a plan, that I’ve white-boarded out and am dedicating myself to sticking to.  It won’t be a domino effect, simply because it doesn’t seem like an effortless waterfall approach.  Here starts a journey and I’ll take whoever is interested in coming along for the ride.

During my blog-surfing, I’ve seen a ton of notes to “my past self”.  I’ve also heard lots of people ask the question, “What do you wish you knew them that you know now?”.  I clearly am not in the position to advise my former self (except to have maybe skipped a few less classes) so I figured I’d try to write a note to my… future self.

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Dear future (and hopefully super-successful) Nikki Chan,

I want you to remember how absurdly nervous and scared POOPLESS you are right now.  I wish for you to remember how horrible your first notes on the violin were, how messy your first few Chinese watercolor paintings turned out to be and how ridiculous your first few (thousands) of photographs were.  Your hard work consisted (and will continue to consist) of struggles, perseverance and a ton of failures.   Hard work does’nt equate to success and I’m hoping (since this is address to the accomplished-Nikki-Chan), that you’ll be able to reflect on the efficiency and smart decisions you’ve made.

I remind you that there will always be areas to improve and expand on, but to continue sharpening your strengths and developing your weaknesses.   I learned something now, and I hope to never forget it:  Never stop learning and never stop being teach-able.

Please cherish all of the critiques and criticisms you’ve received.  Stay humble and keep your head to a normal size.  Go back to the people that influenced you and write them a thank you card, because without their support and kind words, you wouldn’t be anywhere close to where you are now.  You owe those friends and family members everything.  Hear me?  EVERYTHING.

Remain logical and please don’t lose any more common sense.  (You didn’t have much to begin with anyway =P)
Reflect back on things that you learned in kindergarten.  Be nice.  Share.  Give back.  Hug.

Good luck and keep reaching
Current Nikki Chan

P.S.  I also hope you’ve become a better writer by now.