Learning to Trust the Path by Josh St. Germain

Hi, my name is Josh St.Germain and I’d like to tell you a story… my story. Ok, not all of it, just the parts that matter.

They say everything happens for a reason. Whoever “they” are, I believe them. The one main thing I have learned time and time again in my life, is that I have to trust in the path I see lain before me. I have tried many times to step off my path and head off into the woods to find another’s to follow. Each time I have, without fail, been led straight back to my original footprints by a series of seemingly purposeful & usually frustrating events. I know that I have control over my life and the choices I make, I’m just saying that if you open your eyes to the signs, you’ll find the life you were meant to have. This road is paved with pride rather than regret. And yeah, it’s usually the hardest path to choose, but yields the most fulfillment.

The three photos in this series embody specific points along my path that have assured me I had arrived properly at my checkpoints. A wife, kids, and a home that I was proud of, are three things that I never once thought I would have. Even down to the minutes before I sat down and knew I was in the presence of my future wife, I still held strong to this belief.

Six years ago in January of ‘07, my grandmother became ill. We all knew (whether we admitted it or not) that this wasn’t going to end in recovery. Her and I shared a very strong relationship. And through her illness and losing her a couple months later, along with other personal struggles, brought a very dark time upon my life.

In the darkest place, it is easiest to see light…

I saw a light. At a time when I least expected to. I had a choice to stay in the darkness or trust a hope and follow this light. This light was a woman, lost in her own dark place.

I decided to accept an invitation to check out a salon (ironically named Karma) that my acquaintance Jenn had recently opened. It so happened to be on the way to and from visiting my ailing grandmother. We ate lunch together that day and I’d like to believe that we both walked away knowing that there was purpose in our time together. She was in the process of leaving an unhappy marriage, moving back into her parents house, managing a new business, and caring for her one and a half year old daughter. Everything about her was exactly the opposite of what my brain would have thought to pursue. But everything happens for a reason, and I my heart told me feet which way to go on this one..

Five months later we had an apartment together and I was an unofficial step-dad to her two year old daughter. 2 years after that, our son Logan made a grand entrance at the hospital on a September morning. And now we are happily married and have been in our very own house for almost a year. I could never have imagined, as I sat in darkness over six years ago, that I would be telling you these things about my life. In fact, with each one of these choices, I had myself thinking it would never work out. Yet, fate whispered in my ear otherwise.

Let’s back-up for a minute…  I’ve gone through creative phases in my life. The earliest I remember was pencil drawing, then writing poems and drug induced short stories, taking photos with disposable cameras, then musicianship, on to extremely amatuer graphic design, and finally landing right here, right now. Mobile photography has not only allowed me the creative outlet I have consistently needed to survive, but it has allowed me to blossom as a person. I’ve opened up to the mobile world and with that, opened up as a person. It kind of sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but I cannot deny the truth in it. The community is truly amazing.

There is something very specific that relates all that I’ve shared above. I would have inevitably been exposed to mobile photography even if none of these events had happened in my life. What makes all the difference, is the inspiration I get from my wife, my kids, and the place we call home. To have my step-daughter volunteer to join me on a photo adventure with her iPod raring to go, or to have my wife suggest that we go to a nearby lighthouse to take some photos after dinner on date night, gives me a joy that I can’t express with words. They inspire me and support me and fuel my passion. This inspiration is always behind my eyes as I’m looking through the lens of my phone. I couldn’t be who I am, without them.That is something you don’t take for granted.

Now, I haven’t shared this story with you to brag or glorify my life in some way. I’m just a landscaper, living in a small town, with a smartphone and a dream. I’m so far from perfect that I can’t even see what it looks like (nor do I care). I simply hope that there is at least one of you out there can relate to the darkness I’ve seen. I hope you now feel that no matter what you have convinced yourself of, there is always going to be a light that can guide you to the life you were meant to live. You only need to keep your eyes open and trust that everything happens for a reason.

– Josh St.Germain –

*Editors Note: Josh posted these shots as part of the #iaminspired by challenge. Dilshad and I loved them so much we asked for more! In talking with Josh I asked him to expand on what these three photos meant to him.  – Anna Cox

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Anna Cox

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