life passes us by in the waiting… until there is no more waiting to be done
“You are worth being brave.” -Brene Brown
I’m not one for too much small talk. Meaningful talks about things that truly matter fill my heart up to the brim. Being a witness to my friends’ pain and deep joy is truly one of my most treasured gifts. It’s also how I found myself laying back in a dentist chair, after my semi-annual teeth cleaning, talking to a close friend (also happens to be my dentist and the best one around) about all the things. Life, business, life-business, business-life. I felt myself get so fired up (southern talk for impassioned) when we started talking about why we all wait to capture life, and more specifically, to hire a photographer. Really, it’s not about the photographer. It’s about the waiting.
We wait. There’s the necessary waiting in lines and traffic and for the cable company to show up and for the day our amazon prime order is waiting at our door step. But what about the other waiting? We are waiting for everything to be “just so”. Waiting to lose those last ten pounds or the first…waiting to love our bodies. Waiting to have time to finish those home projects. Waiting for the landscaping to be done. Waiting to get through the busy body toddler years. Waiting for the braces to be gone. Waiting for sports schedules to slow down. Waiting for work to slow down. Waiting for the depression and/or anxiety to go away. Waiting for the stress to be gone. Waiting for this season of life to be gone. Waiting to feel worth it.
I have a secret to tell you…these pictures are not for you today. They are not for your family today. They are for you twenty years from now. They are for your kids twenty years from now. They are for your grandkids. You know what, you are not going to care about that extra ten pounds in twenty years, but you are going to care about your memories. I’m not just talking about hiring a photographer. I am also talking about using whatever kind of camera you have handy (yes…even your smart phone) to capture what is going on around you. It doesn’t have to look perfect. It just has to capture it. And…it doesn’t have to be everything and it shouldn’t be everything…no having the camera glued in front of you at all times. Just don’t wait to capture some of it. Use the camera you have nearest and just capture that feeling. Let go of the perfection and just capture it how it is.
Can you see that it’s beautiful? Stop waiting. Just see it. See what is in front of you. Push away the “clutter” of the busyness of life just for a few minutes. Take a deep breath and see what is in front of you. See those sweet curls as they bounce up and down (even if they are driving you crazy in this moment). See the beauty in the way they stand on their tip toes to reach their plate because they must do it themselves. See the beauty in you rushing to get everyone a snack before practice. See the beauty in the way they have batman riding a dinosaur and take a minute to wonder what kind of play they had made up in their heads. See the beauty of that pile of blocks…the mud from playing outside…the messy drawers…maybe even the laundry. By all means…clean it up if you want (I mean…it gets to me after a while), but take a minute to see it’s beauty first. Capturing in your heart, on your phone, on some other camera, or have a photographer to come over to capture all of it (okay…we will leave out the messy drawers).
You & your photographer, together, can capture your life so beautifully…just…exactly…the way it is.
It is hard. There are days we want to go by as quickly as possible. I get it. Sometimes the beauty is so much harder to see. Just make a promise that too much time will not go by before you or someone else captures it. You may not see the beauty today, but one day you will.
Now…for a “few” more images from one of my most favorites sessions last year that shows just how beautiful our every day can be.
Don’t let today go by without seeing the beauty in it.
So much love,
Cilla
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