I turned off my alarm

On this rainy Monday morning, I woke up without the sound of my alarm, and it feels great. Allow me to explain by going back in history a little. Fair warning, this long article qualifies as "the story of my life"; but the conclusion is important. If you are bored with my babbling, just skip all the way down to the video.

Almost 29 years ago in Paris, France, I was born. Good start right? Obviously I had no clue as to what I was supposed to do in life. I spent the following 15 years doing what almost everyone does, learning stuff at school in hopes of finding something that would be worth doing in life.

Yosemite Bridalveil Rainbow Falls Fine prints available

I chose to go to a technology focused high school mainly because it was where my good friends were going. At the end of 10th grade, I was told could go to scientific classes but that I would  have to work very hard to make it, or I could go to technology classes where it wouldn't be so hard and I would do better. I obviously picked the latter option and 11th and 12th grade went through fairly easily.

Lonely Puddle Jumper Fine prints available

By the end of high-school, I was accepted in preparatory class for Engineering School. I did just enough to be accepted at ESTIA Engineering School, to the surprise of my 2003 Math teacher; "I had this student who wasn't very good at math, I would've bet my hand off that he wouldn't make it. But he did... I guess he was pretty good in English..."

Alone on the wall Fine prints available

I picked ESTIA for several reasons. The first being that it's near the beach and has a cool surfer vibe to it. The second was that it was not too specialized of a school. And the last but not least was because my good friend Matthieu was going there as well and we had plans to rent a sweet house and buy a pool table. The latter part of that project didn't happen though... And we lived on a farm. I graduated in 2007 with an Industrial Engineer degree. I didn't excel, I just passed.

Headed to the sun Fine prints available

End of 2007 is when I arrived in the USA to experience the American Dream. It was an easy move for me since I have family out here. Yamaha Motor spotted my résumé and hired me soon after. I worked there for almost 5 years. Despite the great products (motorcycles, atvs, waverunners, etc...), I still wasn't passionate about my job.

The Supermoon Fine prints available

What if money was no object. Find the full length lecture here.

I saw this video around the end of October last year. I was browsing through this mountain photographer's website, Jack Brauer and pressed play (the guy has an awesome life by the way, check out his website). I can say that an inspirational 3 minute video changed my life and triggered something. Ever since I saw it, I had the nagging feeling that I was wasting my time leading my life in the wrong direction.

Enjoying the views of Chickenfoot Lake

I had been passionate about photography for a couple years now and decided that I had to find a way to live from it. That goal became very real on May 3rd 2013: Friday was my last day as an employee of a large corporate company. That is the day that I turned my 6:30am weekdays alarm off. Now life will be lived at my rhythm and I will find a way to live doing what I love.

Smile

What are you going to do with your life?