(Warning: Before I was a photographer, I was a Pre-Medical student majoring in Biology. I loved every second of it and yes, I’m a geek in real life. If science freaks you out, don’t read this post.)

The Oxford American Dictionary states that Entropy is: “A thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness of the system. Also defined as a lack of order or predictability.” In other words…. Entropy = Change.

Something that never fails to freak me out a little bit is the concept of change. Not only is change constant, but it’s something that, if you allow it to happen, can overwhelm and inhibit your life. You’d think that we’d figure it out and adapt since it’s a constant. I guess some people are better at adapting to change than others.

Interesting fact though… Entropy = Fire. The heat lost in fire dissipates and therefore cannot be retrieved or put back into a compact object for further use. I think it’s funny how, of all the outdoor activities, the place all the worries and stresses dissipate most is around the campfire. As I sit around the epitome of change with friends, talking about how much change trips me up in life and recounting all the good times that have since changed, I stare into the fire (change) and it mesmerizes me… it calms me… and all my cares seem to burn up in the dancing flames. (Hopefully you followed that…)

There you have it… I love hate change. I love it because it gives me the chance to become who I want to be. I hate it because change FORCES action whether I’m ready for it or not. So this Thanksgiving season (post-Thanksgiving season) I’m thankful for Entropy… on more than one level. I’m thankful that change has happened this year and I’ve grown so much because of it. The beginning of this year started me off with a bang… I was drop-kicked into being self-employed when the coffee shop I worked at closed for economic reasons. Things changed. My business has changed so much since I first started in August 2008… and I’ve had more opportunities this year than I had ever dreamed. Things changed. I am not who I was last November. Things changed.

I hope this holiday season, you have the chance to take inventory of all the entropy you’ve encountered this year. Remember who you were last November… what your biggest worry was… who the most important person in your life was and why… what your dreams were… and compare it to where you are now. Did your biggest worry get resolved? Who was the most important person in your life and are they still? What changed? What were your dreams last year? Did you take action to make those dreams come true or did you push them off as “unattainable” and let them fade away? What made you choose what you did? And… how can you learn from the change that occurred last year? Are you going to let another whole year pass without pursuing your dreams? I would hope not…. because I’m definitely not going to let that happen in my own life. This year has been HUGE… and I only anticipate that 2010 will only make life even more crazy awesome.

Lastly, for your enjoyment, and since I’ve come to realize a blog post is waaay better with pictures, a little family mini shoot for you: Meet The Urbina family… Jamie and Rachel, and their ridiculously awesome son Wesly.