The Good in Everyone

Hi all. Tonight's post partly comes to you mobile, so please pardon any typos. I often see people do things, and hear other people say something to the effect of, "Oh what a horrible person!" While I totally understand where they're coming from, it's not right. Now I'll admit, I've done it to. We all have. Sometimes you really do wonder just what kind of person could do, well, whatever it is in that situation. But is that really what we should be doing? Judging? No.

I believe there is good in everyone! In fact, I don't even believe in bad people. "What a horrible person!" Nope. I believe in good people and good people only. Granted, just because someone has good in them doesn't mean they don't have the ability to make a bad decision. So the moral of the story for tonight is this: Don't believe in bad people. There are only good people, and some of them unfortunately choose to make some bad decisions. But there is good in everyone. We just have to choose to see it. 

Every day I see that so many of us are so caught up in picking out specks of dust dotting other people's lives that they can't see the huge stick in their own life. If we would spend less time judging others and looking for the good in them, we could all be a lot happier. 

Just remember, nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes.
Just remember, there is good in everybody.
Just remember, it's our job to find it.

Love, peace, and happiness,
-Griff

It's All About Your Attitude

"It's all in your head." Most of us would say 'Riiiiight..." But it really is. Consider your attitude. Sure, bad things happen, sticky situations will find you. But that doesn't mean it has to be worse than it actually is. Sometimes a bad situation can be made a bit less awful my changing your attitude. You don't want to work today? Hey, you have a job and you're making money. That's a blessing that not everyone gets to have.

Photo "Trapped." © Griffeth Barker 2013 All Rights Reserved.

So let's take that and apply it to all our lives. Cut out the negativity. Look on the bright side! A little good mojo goes a long way. Spread the word, make people happy. Be happy.

Love, peace, and happiness,
-Griff

Shine On

"Illumination." © Griffeth Barker 2012

The world can seem to be a dark place sometimes, but it doesn't have to be that way!

Every single one of us, including you, has unique talents and abilities. We all have good qualities that people like and are useful in society. If we could all remember that we have those skills and share them, the world would be a more incredible place to live!

If every single one of us shares our abilities and we all help each other out, there are fewer problems, hassles, and way less negativity. And we don't support negativity, do we? Nope, we sure don't.

So don't hide your talents away. Don't bury them underground. Show everyone what you can do, and always be happy to help someone in need!

Love, peace, and happiness,
-Griff

Speaking of Blessings...Living a Dream

Kelsey Kimber

Hannah Wright

For those of you who don't know, I work locally as a photographer in my area. As a high school student, I've been so blessed to have this job and the money it provides. Not only that, but I work with the best people ever. I work with the most beautiful women, the gnarliest dudes, and the cutest couples in the world. So, thank
you to you all. Because tonight,
this hippy is thankful for all of you and all of your support.
Peace, love, and happiness,

-Griff





http://www.facebook.com/GriffethBarkerPhotography/
http://griffethbarkerphotography.blogspot.com/

Count Your Blessings

Tonight's thought is simple. It isn't specific to any religion, race, lifestyle, or anything of the sort. It's not just for cool kids, it's not just for nerds. It's not complicated. It's as simple as this: Count your blessings.

I think that it is far too often that we get wrapped up in our lives, in the business, in the problems, struggles, and day-to-day grind that gets so many people down. I know I get caught up in it once in a while. We have to remember that there's always something for us to be thankful for! 

The other night I was headed out to pick up a new bed I had gotten to replace my crappy old mattress. There was a mistake in the process and I ended up not getting a new bed that night. I was in a pretty foul mood because I had already moved my old set out and cleaned out my room. As I sat fuming in a relatively empty room, I realized that I should be thankful - for a couple of reasons. First of all, I still had a house to sleep in. Second, I had the money to even buy a new bed because my old one was a piece of junk. And third, I had had a bed and was going to have a bed.

I realize that there are people out there who don't have homes right now. I realize that there are places in the world where your bed is in the dirt, or a pile of branches, or hay. I realized that I really didn't have a right to complain when I had so much to be thankful for.

So the moral of the story? Count your blessings. If you do, your life will be better! Don't focus on what's going wrong or what you don't have! Focus on the positive and be thankful for the things you do have. Good mojo. Spread it around!

Peace, love, and happiness,
-Griff

If You're Feeling Down...

...eat a banana. It'll help more than you think. Don't ask questions. Just do it!

Peace, love, and happiness,
-Griff

When Times Get Tough

I think that it's only fair that I'm honest with you. Staying positive is not always an easy thing to do. In fact, it's not an easy thing to do - BUT it does get easier over time.

I was having a pretty great weekend in Idaho and everything was going swell. But something got thrown off somehow when I got home. Suddenly everything started to go wrong. And I mean everything. On top of everything going on my internet decided to not work (then again, that's not all that surprising. Everyone in the Elko area knows that the internet sucks from frontier).

I know it sounds kind of dumb, but you know what it's like when everything piles on top of everything else and soon you're up to your neck in a pile of crap that you're not sure what to do with. But you know what? The important thing is to remember that there is always someone in a worse situation than you. Now I know that may sound depressing, but I'd like to remind you that there's always something to be happy about in every situation. So even though my day ended badly, at the end of it all, I'm sleeping in an air conditioned house with running water, food, a family, some friends, and so much more. 

Don't take things for granted. Remember to remember the positive. See the bright side. And help others to do the same. 

Peace, love, and happiness,
-Griff

A Life Lesson

There are many life lessons that we all learn one way or another. Sometime it's the easy way. Sometimes not so much. This time it was the hard way for me; luckily it didn't have any severe repercussions. 

I was out and about whilst on my trip to Idaho to take Romney to EFY when I saw a fantastic photo opportunity. But I didn't bring my camera on the trip! It was really unfortunate, but then I realized something.

Sometimes it's a good thing to just take a step back from life and experience it for what it really is, face value. I was in a beautiful place and I'm so glad that I got to experience it for real, instead of through the lens.

Don't get me wrong! I love shooting! I thrive inside the lens, and I love what I do. But note-to-self: Don't get so caught up in life that you forget to experience the little things, like a sunset.

Love, peace, and happiness,
-Griff

Doing Something Good in the World

Staying Positive: Spread the Word!

The other day I was in our local WalMart picking up a gaming headset (which by the way, was quite over priced for what it was really worth) and I was standing in line to check out when I just kind of stopped and looked around. 

"What kind of world do we live in?" I asked myself. And really think about this.

I was standing in line ready to pay way too much money for an item that I didn't really need. There was a couple in line arguing, and the guy was not treating that woman with respect. There was a mother yelling at her children, who quite frankly weren't doing anything wrong. They were just being children. Every single person in that line was concerned with themselves and their overpriced shopping list and they didn't seem to care about much else.

All of this led me to realize that we are all too content with the way the world is. So many people are "existing" but so few of us are actually "living." It's the same old grind day in and day out. So many people aren't happy, they're just content. Some people aren't even that! And it really is a sad thing to realize.

WAIT WHAT? I thought this was all about staying focused on the positive??? Well, it is. I'm here to tell you that there are good people doing good things. A prime example of this is one of my best bros Alan. He's got his own clothing company that promotes acts of kindness. So don't wait! Fate is in OUR hands. Start the movement, share the message. Get a shirt at www.randcomacts.storenvy.com.

Smile! Keep your chin up and help other people do the same. Love, peace, and happiness,
Griff

Staying Focused

Let's face it, we all have troubles focusing at times. That's a fact of life. As a photographer, I have to have my focus set on my subject at all times, every shot. If I throw the photo even the least bit out of focus, the picture isn't worth anything. The color can be gorgeous, the model fabulous, the lighting ethereal, the composition pleasing, BUT if the focus is off, it's still not worth anything. 

A while back, I realized that this concept doesn't only apply to my work as a photographer, but to everything in life. Seriously, anything you want to do or accomplish, can be made easier and more enjoyable if you just stay focused.

We all have rough days, rough patches, or hard times. But a very wise friend of mine taught me that we can't be focused on all the negative things in our lives. If we do that, we're basically condemning ourselves to failure. So, the solution? Focus. There's a setting on cameras called "aperture." The aperture is the size of the hole that the light comes through before it hits the film or sensor. The wider the aperture, or bigger the hole, the more light will come into the lens. Another effect of opening your aperture is a shallow depth of field, meaning only a very small portion of your photo will be in focus at a time. This analogy is perfect for what I'd like to tell you all.

Focus on one thing, and one thing only - the positive. Shallow depth of field. If you cut out all of the negativity and bad mojo out of your life, life itself will be lighter and you'll be happier!

Who doesn't want to be happy? I hope that you'll find what you're looking for in my following posts. Feeling down? Don't. Let me help you. Let's help everyone else.

Peace, love, and happiness,
Griff