Refreshing

Lately, I've been feeling so fidgety and anxious about my photography journey.  What should I specialize in, if anything?  Should I change my editing technique?  Should I do away with my flash lights and stick to a more natural light approach?  Should I change up my marketing materials and branding?  What should I do, in general? Should I join more associations/groups?  What is most important to invest in?  These thoughts, plus a ton more, have been swimming in my noggin' for the past few weeks.
In anything, it's easy to compare; whether you are comparing yourself to where you want to be, or where you used to be, or where you are currently.  It's easy to lose sight of something you love, something you find joy in doing, and it's easy to stop doing it for you.
I've felt like this recently. 
Now, don't get me wrong.  I love photography, and I have no plans of stopping or slowing down.  However, like I said in the beginning of this, I've felt anxious lately.  I don't even know how to put what I'm exactly feeling into words.  Stuck, maybe?  I don't know.
I do things my own way, and I have my own style (session and editing-wise.)  In ways, I think I am still discovering where I want my style to be and where I want the business to go.  I am secure in that fact.  So, why do I feel this way?
Expectations may be the key here.  I think, in any business, there are expectations.  Maybe, in a way, I felt like I was missing out, or behind in certain aspects.  There are so many associations available to photographers; so many workshops; so many networking events; so many props to buy; so many things to learn.  There is just so much, in general, available that it is so mind-numbing and consuming.  Seeing all of these other photographers and where they are and what they are apart of made me think I was, in a way, beneath them somehow.  Silly, right?  I don't know why I thought this way.  But, I did, and it was really eating at me.
Today, I read an amazing blog by another photographer, and let me tell you something, it was absolutely refreshing to hear her views.  She doesn't offer/do things that other photographers do; she definitely has her own style;  and she absolutely loves what she does! I follow her work through Facebook and I visit her site often, just to see what she's done recently.  Reading this was so refreshing to me.  So assuring.  It really struck a chord with me, and I'm so glad I read it.
As I was reading through her blog, and letting it all sink in, I realized that I was focusing too much on how others run their business, or what they offer, or how they got to where they are.  I was focusing on what others may think of me, my work/style, and my business.  Focusing on how I do things and how I run my own business, simply for me, is what's important.  How I run a session, how I interact with clients, how I edit....it's all my workflow; all my things; all mine.  And I should be proud of it; all of it.  And I am.  I am so proud of where I started, where I am, and where I want to be. 
I don't have to prove/compare myself to anyone.  I need to be proud of myself and look at where I am and what I've become as a photographer.  I need to continue to make myself happy, and do things I enjoy.  I enjoy photography immensely.  I am so passionate about it.  It's that simple to me.  It's important to not lose sight of what makes me, me, and what makes my work, mine.  It's mine, and I couldn't be prouder.  My style is my own, and that's how it will stay.
Happy Thursday! :-)