The 3 D's

I wrote columns on factors photographers need to be good. I broke them into three word groups, one about EKT and one about PCM. To this I want to add the three D's, for determination, dedication and devotion, which is an overall D, drive. Drive is the term that many people use to describe what they do, but in reality it's a compilation of the three D's into one's drive.

So, the purpose of this? Well, sometimes I find it easier to summarize things into encompassing ideas. And sometimes I like to think out loud about what's behind my thinking, decisions and actions, what's not being done, or missing altogether. And so the three D's came to mind.

For one determination is a prerequisite. It's what is the foundation of doing something, you're determined to work on something and see it through. Sometiimes this can be a detriment or hindrance, but far more often than not, it's what gets one through the hard or long times with a project or work.

Dedication is one's value about the work. It's what the work is for, your value to something larger than yourself. We all speak of someone's dedication to their work for something, it's what gives any project or work relevance. Sometimes this has short term lapses as life or problems interfer, or sometimes we feel the weight or pressure of the work and wonder what we're doing and why. If it's still works, our dedication is restored.

Devotion is sometimes similar to dedication, but it's about the individual's character to the project or the work. It's what someone feels about their work. Devotion is probably the most tentative of the three. Without determination we quit. Without dedication we lapse. But sometimes we don't have to be wholly devoted, just enough will do for the situation or circumstances until we find it again. Sometimes reality changes it, often for the better to see it anew.

In the end it's the totality of the three that makes up someone's drive on a project or work. Without all of them, drive faulters or quits for periods of time, or simply, as with some projects or work, altogether in the face of things. We've been there, and it's always the test of our will and drive to succeed.