Stay Wild
Our Wild Woman launch is this Sunday. I've had this dream blooming in my heart for almost a year now. It's hard to put one title to it. It's hard to put it into words. This concept is something I've experienced personally and am still learning daily. But this started with the sadness of hearing my photography clients time and time again make derogatory comments about themselves before, during and after photo sessions. They weren't commenting on my ability as a photographer, but their appearance as a human.
"Can you photoshop my double chin, my spare tire, my rolls, my wrinkles? Can you make me look 20 lbs lighter?"
We are too hard on ourselves. And at the same time, we don't give ourselves the focus and grace we deserve.
When you were little, there was something wild, untamed inside of you that the world hadn't influenced yet. Now, instead of seeing yourself as the warrior you once did, you see yourself and instinctively say how fat you look or how you hate your double chin.
Where did your wild go? When did your instincts become so self hating?
You're human, therefore, you're beautiful.
Find your wild.
And don't apologize for it.
And while you're shedding the layers of expectations from this world, let's look inside to see why we don't practice self care like we should. So many of us are frustrated with our physical appearance, we fight anxiety, we fight for everyone else's victory but our own.
This Wild Woman Launch is an opportunity to take a moment to do a factory reset on your instincts, on your inner voice. We want you to focus on your strengths. We want you to remember what you once loved about yourself before perfection was the obsession. As you can see, the theme for the event is Queen.
So Queens, let us encourage you on the drive there and back, to think about how you can better serve yourself. Can you say no more often? When can you could spare an hour in your week to do a yoga class, go for a quick hike, meditate, do whatever it is your soul craves?
Our mothers may have handled perfection well. But I do not.
There is a time and a place for perfect family photos. Where every little hair is in place.
This is not that time nor that place. If you're as fed up with the perception of perfection as I am, join Frances and I on this journey to combat the highlight reels of social media and show that some women don't have all of their shit together. Some of us would rather stay wild than be perfect.
Some women aren't in perfect physical shape. Some women aren't happily married. Some women prefer to spend their days in their garden with dirt under their nails.
We aren't all the same. Find your strength and focus on it. Mothers, thank your body for carrying and birthing your babies. Runners, thank your legs for carrying you where you need to go. Fighters, thank your hands and arms for defending yourself and offending your opponent. Creatives, thank your brains and your imagination for bringing to light the art that this world has been missing.
Whatever you do, be kind to yourself. We can't give love and kindness to others if we don't first give it to ourselves.
I am a huntress. I am my best self when I'm hiking in the woods, camping with my family, climbing a tree with my bow in hand, floating on my back in the ocean with my son, kayaking with my best friend. When I envision myself as a wild woman, I see both a warrior and a healer.
I am fiercely protective of my family and friends. Fiercely loyal. I am fiercely accepting of others which also makes me fiercely versatile. I am a mover and a shaker. I am a source of light and love in this world.
But do you want to know what negative qualities about myself that I wrote on the post- it notes to be shredded and then set on fire?
"Cellulite" "Too curvy" "You're too far out there, you're not in touch with reality" "You didn't make the cut" "You're a doormat" "You don't say no enough, you don't set boundaries" "C-Section pudge" "Acne scars" "Stretch marks" "You're a Bitch" "You run away from your problems" "You're not good enough for God's love" "You don't attend a church, therefore you're not really a Christian"
All of the above are qualities about myself or statements that have been said to me or that I've said to myself throughout the years that I've accepted as true. But they're not.
What "truths" do you need to shred and burn?
And once you do burn them, you have to hold yourself accountable to not bring them back to life again. You have to stop yourself in mid sentence when you go to repeat the negativity you've burned. You are not that.
We encourage you to bring a friend so that you may have an accountability partner in this journey of shredding the negativity. Perfection is a lie. You are human, therefore, you're beautiful.
Stay wild, my friend.
And join us Sunday, Nov 17 as we celebrate the royalty in each of us.
Feel free to private message us if you would like to be invited to this event. It is a private event from noon til 5pm on Nov 17. There will be a hair and make up artist on site, I will be shooting one photo of each woman in her most royal attire, and we will have tea and do the insecurity shred and burn ceremony at the end.
My friend and business partner, Frances Byrd, and I had the same inspiration for this Wild Woman concept around this time last year. Frances will be painting a series of wild woman characters and you are welcome to discuss a commission piece with her. I am a photographer and am interested in booking sessions to tell your story of wild. We will have a welcome packet with our mission statement, a questionaire and pricing for full sessions and mini sessions in 2020.