Creating Space
January 2, 2018
I was tucked away in my Chelsea portrait studio sorting through bins and boxes filled with marketing materials, portrait studio decorations, and supplies. A day after resolutions were made, I found myself reflecting on the ways that creating space in our closets helps pave the way for us to create space in our lives.
I sifted through piles of old, expired cards and studio information that was no longer relevant. I realized that it can be hard for me to feel growth when I am looking for it day-by-day, but when three years of growth and change were in front of me, it was easy to see the ways that I have emerged over the years. I saw growth reflected in my marketing, branding, creativity, and in my ability to capture.
As I picked up old cards and collateral, I smiled to myself thinking, "This is no longer who I am," and I gently let go, dropping thing into the recycling bin.
Thank you notes from past clients were read, cherished, and saved in their own sweet box. Your kind words are always held close.
As the piles built up around me and were then sorted one stack at a time, I noticed that my level of self expression had not changed or flourished in the way that many other areas had.
As mom with three kids, I have been so busy chasing, feeding, caring for, and quite literally keeping kids out of harms ways. Many long night were spent hold an asthmatic child one labored breath at a time. So many hours were invested seeking wise counsel from specialists, pediatricians, and good friends willing to take calls at any hour day or night.
I wouldn't do it differently. Blending the worlds of motherhood and my professional life has been nothing short of a challenging endeavor, each flexing at different times to make space for the other. I am forever grateful for the ways that both have enriched my life.
But the busyness of life also leaves its mark. Deep feelings waiting their turn to be creative expressed in words and image surface as a lump in my throat. Meaningful stories still wanting to be shared live on as a spark of fire deep in my belly.
Self expression is good for a creative soul. It offers restoration, hope, and inspiration.
After an evening organizing the office, I now have a bin of props and decorations that can be used to make colorful, playful photography sets (if you are interested in set design, please message me!). I found $50 in an old birthday card! Perhaps most importantly, I created space, and I now have 4 empty bins waiting to be filled with creative, purpose-filled work.
I am naming these new four spaces
1. Written Expression
2. Visual Exploration
3. Community and
4. Empty Space
May all 4 work together in a story telling, creative expression, mission based way.
Thank you to all of you willing to follow my footsteps and take this journey with me. I look forward to discovering what will flourish in the new spaces that have created.
New to MMB Imagery? Here's a link to my visual narrative that show the things I love and keep close to my heart.