Are you living your vibe?

(Originally posted June 2018)  When my husband & I moved to Cocoa Beach a little less than a year ago, I had no idea that not only was my address changing, but my entire life was about to catapult into something dreams were made of.

For the last 30 years, I have worked in the financial industry. It’s what I know, it pays the bills, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunities and lifestyle it affords me. However, I’ve always felt like something was missing. Passion.

When life’s path led us to Cocoa Beach, I was awestruck by the natural beauty surrounding me daily. There were moments, many of them actually, that I was moved to tears by the shear, glorious beauty of it all. We live here.

I couldn’t wait to share what I was witnessing with my friends & family back home in Virginia (and my 2nd home, Tampa, where we lived for 5 years before settling here.) I dug out my daughter’s old point-and-shoot Sony camera, and started clicking away. We live on the beach,  so sunrises are a daily blessing. I began taking shots of the sunrise over the Atlantic each morning and it was a big hit with my crew on Facebook. Soon, I branched out into my new LOVE...Surf photography!

After a month or so of shooting with the old P/S (do you see what I did there?) I decided to go all in and buy myself the mac-daddy Christmas gift; the Nikon D7200. Oh man! I still do my little happy dance when I think of the first shots I took with that camera!  This little gift to myself has turned into much more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined.

I live at one of the coolest breaks in Central Florida. It’s a daily event to see surfers paddling out at 16th Street South in South Cocoa Beach, so I didn’t have to go far to get in some practice shooting. I thought it would be a cool idea to take shots of the local surfers and post them on a site so they could have pics of themselves. It was also a way for me to give back to the community that had already given so much to me. So with that, The Beach at 16th Street was born on Facebook. It is so cool to see that site grow and community come together to share stories and pictures. And, my heart warms every time a surfer sees their pictures and says, “Oh man! That’s awesome! Thanks so much!”. 

One morning, as I was watching, and shooting, an unusually golden sunrise, a man his daughter and her bestie arrived for dawn patrol. The moment struck my heart with such emotion that I knew at that moment, I was meant for something greater. My purpose is to capture moments of beauty, and share stories of those who are also living their purpose.

I found my vibe.

What is your vibe? Are you living it?