What I’m hearing from so many parents is that one of the hardest parts of this pandemic is their children’s loss of social interaction. Playing with other children helps develop their personality, as well as create self-esteem. What do you do when your child can no longer be social and play with friends? How do you encourage that grown and build self-worth in them?
I teamed up with the incredible Brian, from Myrtie Blue, to demonstrate how to make a beautiful floral arrangement from plants in your garden. He makes it look so effortless, and honestly, it is pretty easy! Brian's work is truly art, but his goal was to show that you are more than capable of doing some simpler arrangements, yourself. You can see the full write-up on Style Me Pretty.
Yesterday I laid in my bed for a long time, just looking at the wall. Unable to put my thoughts into words when Matt asked me if I was okay.
“No, I’m not okay” is what my entire body wanted to say, but I just shook my head and whispered, “yes.”
I don’t want to keep putting this depression on him. He’s right there fighting beside me, so I don’t need to then put my own sadness back on him.
People told me this is what was going to happen when I finally stepped out of my own privilege and woke up to what was really happening around me. I truly believe I’m going through the grieving process.
It’s definitely important that we do things behind the scenes and put the hard work in. But, it’s also important that I speak out so that people know where I stand and feel represented. I have had/have black clients and if I expect them to feel comfortable with giving their business to me, I need to be very clear on where I stand; I stand with them.
People are watching. If you are afraid of losing followers or clients because you post things like BLM or that you fight for injustice, black people are going to take notice. If I’m going to give my money to a company then I want to know that company is someone who would stand up for me and with me.
Just like you’re seeing a lot these days, it’s not enough to be non-racist, we need to be anti-racist. For white people, this is going to take a lot of hard work. You’re going to get really uncomfortable. That’s a good thing. That means you’re learning.
It comes down to something so fundamentally simple; you have a story to tell and I’m here to help tell it through photographs.
Lifestyle sessions let everyone breathe easier. I had a session where the child didn't want to be in any of the photos. The mom was stressed and kept apologizing. I told her to breathe and that this was a time in their lives. It's so natural for kids to not want to be in photos, or to be over it within a few moments. This is how her son was feeling at this time and that's okay. We thought of ways that would be fun and natural for him. I had dad pick him up and hold him upside down. I had mom spin him and tickle him. Brother played with toy trucks with him. These are the moments that we remember. We remember storytime, bathtime, putting baby to bed, nursing, playing airplane (where you are on your back and you fly your child through the air using your feet), pillow fights, and just being a family.
Lifestyle sessions allow me to be a quiet presence in your family’s life. They allow me to capture moments that you are never going to want to forget. There are no rules when I show up to a session. I just want to tell your story perfectly.