May your bloom be super!

Oh sweet spring, it’s so nice to be in the experience of you!

This time of year always feels so mixed to me - the promise of warm, of new life and refreshed energy and also the realities of those bonus cold and gray days, and the tired - ooooh the tired! 

I guess it makes sense though, I mean newborns sleep ALOT, right? So as energizing as the newness is, it also requires a lot from us and invites to continue to make rest a *real* priority.

And still, even when tired, the longer days and promise of fresh blooms inspire us to hike and travel and find our way to some of the many, many gorgeous places on this glorious planet, just so we can soak *it* in a little.

I believe this work/play of getting out in nature is an answer to the call of our souls need for nourishment. Our wise desire to get close up and personal with the love, beauty and intelligence that created *it* all.

How humbling and inspiring and absolutely motivating.

So a couple of weeks ago when he said to me, “how about this Sunday, we load everyone into the car at 4am and drive out to the desert? I’ll bring the grill and we’ll have a pancake breakfast when we get there and then go on that hike you love.”

I may have just fallen a little more in love right there on the spot. This was one of those magical times when his gesture of love, landed.

We have a beautiful life and also we are in a season of working really hard.

It’s good work, we’re happy and grateful and also - it’s no small thing for this man who commutes somewhere between 9 and 15 hours a week in LA traffic to offer out of his own desire to take on a little adventure like this just because he knows how much I love it there.

Love speaks so many languages.

And while I certainly am capable of making a trip like this happen without this gesture, gifts come in so many forms and receiving is a beautiful thing... so that’s what I did.

4am Sunday rolled around, I grabbed a blanket and a pillow, got in the car and let the rest be taken care of. (Insert big beautiful exhale).

We had a beautiful day and it was so needed. As we hiked and explored and I photographed them doing what they do - my heart expanded and my breath deepened with every step.... I knew I was not only filling my present time cup but also  giving a gift to my future self.

I’ve been a mama since 1995, that’s a pretty long time and on my journey there have been days when I have questioned and doubted everything. Most profoundly, myself.

I can’t tell you though, how often I’ve come across photos I’ve taken of our life and been instantly uplifted, even when they simultaneously create waves of sweet grief for the days that no longer are.

These photos, these perfectly imperfect images that document bits and pieces of our life together as a family, remind me of how good it really has been, how good it really is.

My inner critic has a much harder time tearing me down when there is this “proof” of this imperfect and beautiful life that I have created.

This certainly isn’t my whole “why” for taking photos, and for years I didn’t even realize they had this medicinal effect. But it sure is a beautiful bonus and one of the handful of potent reasons I get so excited about teaching photography as well as doing sessions with people.

Even a business session is a meaningful process of documenting a time in my clients life when they’re up to something brave and good and important. I always have flashes of them looking back on their images decades later and being flooded with feelings of pride and love as they remember all that they’ve done to contribute to our world.

So... whether you are entering into spring by adventuring out into nature or tucking yourself a little deeper under the covers for just a bit longer I hope that you are doing what feels good to you and noticing the beauty unfolding around and within you.

As for me, I plan to do a little of both and to keep documenting and sharing as I go.

Much love,

Danielle