Your Signature

Do You Know Your Signature?

Snowy Egret

Your Signature Matters.

Let’s consider a photo example.

You may notice that I put my signature on the photos that appear on this web site.

I do this for three reasons (two functional and one philosophical). They are:

1) Hinder unauthorized use.

2) Show that I consider them art worth signing.

And then,

3) Remind myself of my purpose.

Forster's Tern

You see, I take photos to celebrate the extraordinary beauty in Nature. And so that’s a fundamental requirement for the photos that I choose to show.

Thus, each of my photos contains that signature, whether it appears in print or not.

So if you saw a collection of my work, you would know much about me. And from that you could make good guesses about my values, my manner, and my life.

Now, the key to making this possible is: I had to find and then define my purpose. Once I did that, I can challenge each photo for its consistency with that purpose.

And this matters because the more deliberate you are, the more effective you will be.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Juvenile

Of course, this applies to everything that you do.

That is, you put your signature on your conversations with others, your reactions to disappointments, your approaches to challenges, and so on.

And all of this begins by first knowing who you are; and then challenging your choices for consistency with your image of who you want to be.