and.

okay okay. i’ve been hiding.
 
from the internet.
 
how silly does that sound.
 
but being seen is both one of my greatest desires and greatest fears, as it is for lots of us human people. it’s what we crave but it’s not easy. and i have been working really, really hard on my insides. to tolerate change that is good and growth but all of that stretches you and pulls you and then you have to decide and redecide whether you will be soft putty and enjoy the calling of changing into something new or to settle in as hard glass and shatter with new things.
 
everyone talks about how hard failure is, but no one talks about how hard SUCCESS can be to hold. we think, who am i to have this amazing family, a great marriage, a home i’m proud of, a business i like, a life that is the classic gold standard? how good is TOO good? if i get too many of those things on the checklist will anyone like me anymore? if i get too big will i have any friends? if i am TOO smart, brilliant, beautiful, talented, rich, or happy won’t that make me an obnoxious unicorn? too-perfect, intimidating, selfish, materialistic? it takes so much courage to become who we are. we love to tell people to go for their dreams, but what happens when you get there?
 
most of us keep ourselves inside a smaller life just because it’s comfortable, and we’re not willing to make the big leap to more success, joy, love, and fulfillment because it requires discomfort and leaving our old selves behind to get there. (This book changed my life by the way. Go pick it up. And with recommending anything on the interwebs these days, I gotta tell you that no, I don’t get any incentives or $$ for telling you about it. ha.)
 
this feels like the thing to say right before showing you a beautiful family that looks absolutely top-to-bottom head-to-toe perfect from the outside. and the old me probably would have said, wait wait before you look just know they have their struggles and heartaches too. (and that’s still true.) but the me today, right now, wants to say, can we hold a little more capacity in the world for beautiful success? for a family who looks amazing from these photos and IS actually amazing in real life? there’s a lot of debate about what’s “real” lately–we’re craving “real” moments, “real” bodies, “real” stories. I’m right there too. But sometimes the “real” just gets translated into, What’s the most terrible or messy? And every day, every minute, is full to the brim with soaring and aching, joy and sadness, love and the inability to choose love, so it’s ALL real, and we get to decide which piece of the story to show and share and believe and pay attention to.
 
That sounds like I want us to only give voice to the highlight reel, but if I can tell you anything, it would be this: every slice is deserving, every nuance and facet is what makes a kaleidoscope glittery and gorgeous all the way around.

well heyo. if you want photos of your family in your home I’d love to be your lady. Contact me right here and I’ll send all the pricing and availability to you lickety split.