I meant to share this much sooner, but with all of my out-of-the-country travels, and still not having a working phone, I am just now getting around to it.
Last month I was featured over on the Linenbeauty blog! You can check out the interview here.
There are so many amazing dialogues over there with inspiring women pursuing slow living and simple paths and I feel so flattered to be amongst them.
In our interview I mention a little bit about The Wild and Wonderful American Road Trip, and the portrait of me is actually the only film photo I’ve shared so far from the 34 rolls of film I shot on the trip. I have chosen not to release any of the images digitally until some of the projects I am working on with them are completed, but there will be an opportunity to see more of them soon!
Thank you all for reading and engaging with me on these ideas and topics. As always, I love talking to you about them, don’t ever hesitate to reach out over instagram or email!
Read Moremy life is saturated with art.
not just my own, but others.
i am constantly moved to great depths in short amounts of time by the words and images and sounds i come across. i am trying to listen more intently and pay closer attention to the things that move me in just that way.
there is something there worth meditating on and exploring further.
i have been wanting to share more of these sources of inspiration, and so you might see more of these sorts of posts popping up here on the online journal as time goes on.
(i am also going to practice saying less and letting things just speak for themselves. so i won’t say anything else on this idea for now…)
today’s inspiration was this poem by David Whyte, shared with me by a friend.
the book that this piece is from is now on my reading list.
Read Moreon hiatus.
that’s the current state i feel some parts of my creativity are in. not for a lack of passion, but simply because i cannot do everything at once.
depending on how long you’ve followed me, you might not even know that i’m a fiber artist and knitwear designer.
i started an Etsy shop in 2011 which was part of my full time work until about 2015. it grew into a very successful side of my business. i designed seasonal collections of knitwear centered around themes of inspiration (examples: On The Road, Gypsy Soul and OOAK pieces inspired by my travels), i was on the front page frequently, became a featured shop, interviewed in a book, had pop ups with the likes of Madewell and Quirk Gallery, was featured in various publications and by all appearances had “made it” in the Etsy scene of success.
Read Morethe kind of girls who follow their dreams, not trends.
the kind of girls you want as friends, sisters, partners, mothers.
the kind of girls who encourage you to be more you by simply being unapologetically themselves.
the kind of girls you will be late for buses and trains for.
the kind of girls to go dancing with under late night city lights.
the kind of girls who have wild and relentless ambition.
the kind of girls who listen with their hearts.
the kind of girls you will book plane tickets with.
Read Moretravel dates are to let you know when i'm going to be somewhere other than home (which for me is sweet beautiful Virginia) and have availability for additional bookings for photography work.
because while, yes, i totally can and will come to you for a session wherever you're located, if you see that i'm already going to be near you during a certain time it'd be more cost efficient to go ahead and book a shoot while i'm already planning on being in your area!
make sense?
plus i've decided in 2018 to offer my photo sessions booked during travel dates at a discounted rate!
what's not to love right?
for the latest travel dates announcements check out the blog tag! or my instagram story highlights.
Feel free to message me on Instagram or shoot me an email if you have any interest!
//
Norfolk, VA August 28th-30th
New York City September 9th-12th
London October 17th-22nd
Greece October 22nd-30th
Texas December 30th-January 7th
Read Morethis is an idea that has been circling the walls of my mind all week.
sparked by a late night conversation with a friend over beers and gin and tonics and black bean burgers (just kidding. there was only one black bean burger. mine...)
i don't remember his exact wording but he essentially said:
well you know don't you, that the moments you are nostalgic for, that you remember with fondness in your mind, are the ones in which you were truly YOU. you were yourself, as you were meant to be. unhindered and uncaring about the world and others perspective of you.
and for some reason this blew. my. mind.
perhaps because i am one to always be searching for enlightenment/self actualization/knowing who i am in every new season and aspect of my life and i am somewhat of a junky for self help/tips on living your best life and discovering your truest self.
but so much of that learning and search can be clouded by the external voices of the world.
i believe we were each born with inherent worth and value, unable to be earned or acquired by any worldly action or accomplishment, and yet that is not largely how i live my life a lot of the time. the reason for which is often because i have lost sight of who i am.
and because the day-to-day moments and the now can often be clouded, rushed, confusing and hurried, it is often in looking back at the past that this clarity, this recognition of inherent self, is gained for me.
(the age-old adage of hindsight being 20/20 of course also applies)
Read Morei am an extremely goal, list and dream oriented and motivated person (see the goals tag here on the journal for proof). i have stated that i am a process junkie, but i am also addicted to getting.shit.done.
i am the kind of person who will almost-always make their bed as soon as they get out of it, but if for some reason the whole day goes by without it being made, i will make it right before i get in it at night.
i am also the kind of person who will add three things on the “to do” list that i’ve already accomplished just so i can check them off, who will use every last drop of shampoo before buying a new bottle and who will absolutely under no circumstances leave the house with only one errand to complete.
i like efficiency, progress, organization and accomplishing tasks. i have a really hard time not feeling like i am getting things done because, well, i always have a list of things to get done.
i also have a hard time not wrapping up my worth in what it is i do and separating that from who i am (but i digress).
i recently got back from a two month road trip and needless to say i have been flooded with inspiration and ideas and motivation ever since. more on that another time, but the point that’s relative to this post is that i have had a lot of ideas since that trip. a lot of project concepts, goals and endless tasks i want to complete.
Read Moreyou’re a wildflower though, you know? not one of those perfectly manicured and pre-planned pampered garden flowers. or secured and tended-to potted porch plants.
no.
you are a wayward side-of-the-road surprise, with a mind-of-your-own way about you.
a varied find.
unruly at times.
often amidst weeds.
(you aren’t afraid to be in mixed company.)
here and there.
the nomad of flowers. and really it’s about time you embraced that. it really is. because most everyone else sees that about you.
not that you need their validation to be what you were made to be. i’m only saying that if what you are is so obvious to everyone else, why are you pretending that it’s not obvious to you?
embrace your roots. let your seeds sow where they fall. allow the wind to scatter and plant you where it may. for that is the way you travel. that is how you find your home(s): growing freely without intervention.
Read MoreCharlie Umhau and i used to be neighbors back when we both lived in Richmond, Virginia.
it was a while before i realized the jovial wild-haired being, who always greeted me on the sidewalk with a grin and a wave, was the same one on Instagram commenting on and resonating with my wild and creative musings (and here is just one of the many examples of how the internet has brought the most remarkable people into my physical world).
though we really only had the opportunity to become friends and hang out for a short time before he moved to New Orleans, there was an instantaneous connection in our conversations and ways of viewing and loving the world.
from our common ideas on rewilding, our mutual experience of feeling a little-bit different than everyone else around us, to answering the call of leading and living a life counter to what our society told us to live.
Read Morei don't remember the first time i thought about driving across the country.
there are many dreams that live inside of me that feel like they've just always been there. often i can remember various details and mile stones that attributed to their growth and permanence within me, but i don't always remember their conception.
the American road trip is one of those kinds of dreams.
(a related side note: after i wrote this whole post, i vaguely recalled writing about this dream years ago and after searching my archives, came across this from 2013. so, you know, there's at least one recorded mile stone for you.)
i think sometimes there is this unspoken expectation in our society, in regards to our dreams and the things we tell others we want to do. which is that for some reason they require justification by means of history and long-time desire and even a communicated "always" to validate them. i'm not sure why that is really. perhaps the drive to be different and one-of-a-kind and original. we didn't just see someone on instagram do that and now we want to, we are deeper and more thought out and planned than that. we wanted to do that before it was "cool".
all of that to say, it feels important to communicate the "i've always wanted to do this" tagline not as a way of validating my desire, and elevating it over anyone else's that may be similar, but more so to simply revel in, and celebrate, the finality of finally embarking and choosing action and motion in regards to this long-held dream.
a fact that feels important in more ways than one for me. many of which i am not able, nor will i try, to communicate here.
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