a birthday celebration & give-away!

Try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms
or books written in a very foreign language.
Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now,
because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything.
Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Today is an exciting day! Not only am I turning 32, but my blog is turning 1! {I’m celebrating by giving a gift to one of you. There will be a random drawing on Friday. Make sure to check out the details below.}

I posted the above quote by Rilke in one of my very first blog posts. I thought it summed up what this blog was going to be all about. I decided that my blog was going to be about the questions and not so much about the answers. It was going to be about the search, the process, the exploration. I can say without a doubt that I have achieved the mission of this blog. But it hasn’t been easy. To sit in the questions and to embrace the unknown is never easy, but let me tell you it is SO worth it.

Exactly one year ago, on my 31st birthday, I opened the doors to my blog and began to write. I wrote about life and creativity. I wrote about feeling stuck. I asked you to share your story in the hopes that we could inspire each other. I daydreamed about what life could be like. I even wrote a list of “if only’s” and “shouldawouldacoulda’s” and decided it was time to turn them into “why the heck not’s?” Looking at that list today, I am overwhelmed with emotion. Within a year, I have done almost everything on the list. And you want to know how I did it?

I made a choice.

I chose to say yes instead of no. I chose to live a life of creativity. I chose to look at my insecurities (and sometimes hang them out for all the world to see.) I chose to be myself – completely and unapologetically. I chose to welcome change. To welcome joy. To welcome the unknown. And yes, I even chose to welcome fear. I chose to put one foot in front of the other, one day at a time, as I made my way towards my dreams.

And here I am on my 32nd birthday, on the one year birthday of my little-engine-that-could blog, having crossed off so many things from my list. In the midst of it all, there were many days when I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere, wasn’t accomplishing enough, wasn’t moving fast enough. But from where I sit now, I can see that we are all a culmination of the tiny steps, the deep breaths, the trusting, and the leaping.

In order to get where we’re going, we have to be where we are.

After a year of big changes, I now know that the questions don’t ever go away. And that’s okay. Every time I find an answer to a question, I add ten more questions to the list. Such is life. Now that I have crossed so many things off of my “why the heck not?” list, I have started adding more and bigger things – things I never would have imagined possible.  

Today, I know that it is ALL possible.

I can’t thank you enough for your words of encouragement along the way. Even if you’ve never commented, thank you for reading. I can feel your presence hanging around in my little blog home and I SO appreciate it.

To thank you for all of your support, I’m giving away one photo from my Etsy shop. All you have to do is leave a comment below. It’s that simple. If you’ve never commented before, don’t be shy! If you don’t know what to say, just leave a smiley face and I will know that you were here. I will randomly choose a winner on Friday and announce it here. (Make sure to enter your email address when commenting. It will not be published. I will only use it if you are the winner of the photo give-away.)

In other news…

“always look up” fine art photography print available in my etsy shop

Just when I thought my birthday/blogoversary couldn’t get any better, I was interviewed today by one of my favorite bloggers, Bindu Wiles. A few weeks ago, I posted the above photo* on Twitter and received a lovely response from Bindu. Within minutes, we were planning a virtual gallery show and interview on her blog. 

What Bindu doesn’t know was that I was having a crappy day that day. What she doesn’t know is that I took this photo in the parking lot of a mall. What she doesn’t know is that it was the only photo I took that day, but thank goodness I did. It saved me. It gave me perspective and got me breathing again. It made me smile, right there in the middle of the mall parking lot and made me forget about my bad hair day and my headache. This photo sums up WHY I am a photographer and why taking a minute out of your day for creativity can completely transform you.

Anyway, I couldn’t be more thrilled and honored to be hanging with Bindu today. To say that I admire this woman and her approach to life is an understatement. Please pop over and check out the interview! And while you’re at it, settle in with a cup of tea (or glass of wine), and spend some time checking out a few of my favorite Bindu posts. Get ready to have your mind blown.

I’m signing off to celebrate the day and celebrate this amazing year! Make sure to leave a comment below. That would be the greatest gift of all!

*Since then, I have added this photo to my Etsy shop, along with the dandelion photo I posted a few weeks ago.

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I want to photograph you! All portrait sessions booked in the month of May
will receive $50 off of the session fee.
Visit my Services page for more details.

 

As always – sign up for my newsletter and receive
a “buy one, get one free” code to use in my Etsy shop!