[quoteRight]You are a piece of the puzzle of someone else’s life. You may never know where you fit, but others will fill the holes in their lives with pieces of you.[/quoteRight]
I am blessed. Blessed and so incredibly grateful. This week I was reminded multiple times of something I far too often take for granted. When I look back over the last 6 years of my photographic art journey so many things have changed. I’ve gone through countless cameras, lenses, actions, teachers, students, clients, states, styles, roadblocks, mental blocks, struggles, triumphs, but through all of that one thing was a constant. From the beginning there has been an ever growing group of women, a sisterhood rather, of artists, photographers, and clients who I have met along my journey. Initially I started running through a list of names in my head and writing down all the amazing things I have learned from each relationship and what I admire about each of them, but for each person I thought of, another 3 would pop into my head. I haven’t blogged in so long, but figured this would probably be an appropriate post to start off with seeing as I doubt I would even still be able to without that amazing support group. (Don’t worry about that list girls I am still working on it and I am sure you will receive some random text or email from me soon blubbering about how much l love you. We all know it’s happened before.)
It has never mattered what camera gear I owned, or even what level my abilities were at. I have been supported, pushed, inspired, challenged, questioned, believed in, held up, and changed forever by women that have been brought together simply by something that regardless of how far apart we live, how different our art is, or how much are lifestyles vary, connects us on another level that allows us to have a respect and sisterhood with one another. I doubt any of us would have ever met or connected in any way if not for photography. I can’t imagine my life without these women in it. I wouldn’t be who I am today without their influence. Some of us met on online forums, classes or Facebook. Some of us met on photo shoots or were connected through other mutual photography friends. Some of us met randomly, and some were even once clients. Regardless of how we met, my life has been changed and touched forever by each of them.
To give some examples of what I’m talking about:
One morning in August of 2011, shortly after the hell that was my divorce/battle for my kids had begun. I remember being ambushed in a Silverdale Washington Mall parking lot by a girlfriend/photographer/secondshooter/sneaky lady/Rebecca Severson with a car loaded down with care packages, gifts, and letters from friends all over the country and informed me that “SURPRISE! IT’S TARA DAY! AND OH BY THE WAY I’M RECORDING THIS MOMENT.” At the same exact moment that I was being overwhelmed and brought to tears by the pile of gifts and realization of how much work these women had put into creating this moment for me, they then proceeded to flood the facebook world with surprises, images, and “Tara Day” posts. It may seem silly to some, but I know that moment was heaven sent. It was one of the most brutal times of my life and without my friends, I doubt I would have survived it. That morning is one I will never forget and was more needed than any of them knew at the time. Every single one of those women were ones I had met throughout my photography journey, and it is what had kept us all connected.
Another fun example, I remember a conversation with one of my best friends, Bethany (most people are used to me referring to her as B, wifey, or BAMF…don’t ask) about the day we first met in person. Years later we both kinda admitted we weren’t so sure we liked each other at first. We had known each other online for a while (easy to get alone through a computer), but met up in Texas with some other friends for a photography workshop. Right off the bat I think there was a little bit of friction and head butting. I remember her husband at the time looking at us as he watched B and I have a conversation in their living-room and heard him say “Dear God, there’s two of them.” Physically we are polar opposites, but mentally we were so much alike that we both immediately recognized that this could either be disastrous (like category 5 hurricane disaster) or we could find a way to wrangle our strong personalities, get along, harness the awesome, and have something amazing come out of it. A few hours later, we found ourselves in wedding dresses, carrying cameras, with a cowboy, getting chased by longhorns through cow patties on a backwoods ranch in the middle of nowhere Texas. If that doesn’t scream “girl bonding time!” I don’t know what does. Now four years later, I can’t imagine my life without the crazy girl who has my back in a way that only a fiery Texas girl can, and never lets me forget who I am and what I am capable of. And to think, we never would have met had it not been for the love of our art and cameras. To make that story even more complicated I was originally introduced to B by Vicki (or Master V as we are required to call her). Vicki was my photography mentor and the one responsible for teaching me how to use my first real camera. I remember she used to make me cry when she critiqued my photos and there were times I hated her and I’m sure I’ve called her much worse things than Master V over the years. Now, I am blessed to call her one of my best friends and part of that amazing network of women that keep pushing me forward. If I keep going through that list of women I would be able to gradually connect each woman to another until a giant “family tree” of photographers was created. It’s pretty amazing.
Another amazing lady on my family tree that I need to give a huge nod to this year is the amazing Carey Vorholt (yeah you’ve blogged about me Darlin’, you had to know it was coming eventually! Buckle up!). Just kidding I couldn’t ever think of a bad word to say about Carey. For anybody who hasn’t ever read it you MUST visit her blog http://www.westofhomesouthofsanity.com/ and her photo site http://www.careyanneblog.com. The first time I met Carey was as a new client, on a freezing cold rainy beach on the Oregon coast. Yeah she was one of THOSE clients who got inspired to pick up a camera of her own and tell her own story. How dare she. 😛 At the time we were both coastie wives, and although I’ve made my great escape from that part of my life I am glad that it brought me so many amazing friends, Carey being one of them. I’ve had the joy of not only having her family as my clients throughout the years but also of teaching and mentoring Carey throughout her own photography journey. Nowadays though, I think the tables have turned. I think I’ve run out of things to teach her for now, and her work continues to soar to new heights. I find myself learning more from her in many areas these days than she has ever learned from me. If you read even just a little of her blog you will get a sense of who she is. Hilarious, sarcastic, smart, joyful, ringmaster, independent, but vulnerable all at the same time. I watch her relationships with her children and aspire to have relationships like that with my boys as they grow. Carey has witnessed me during some of the roughest points in my life, and she’s always the person willing to say what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. I never could have imagined that morning on the beach in Oregon when we first met, what would come of that relationship 5 years later. BLESSED! Last year Carey and I got a group of previous workshop girls together for a smaller intimate mentoring group over Mothers Day weekend. That weekend ended up being a mess of changing schedules and personal nightmares for some of us. However, photography once again pulled us all together on a sunset soaked beach in Galveston and resulted in moments that I will always remember and be inspired by.
I could go on for hours listing people and stories. Photography connects people from all over the world and country. I can’t think of a single major US city that I have traveled through in the last two years that I haven’t had a friend to stay with or visit with while I was there. That my friends is a GIFT and I am one lucky girl. From the bottom of my heart I truly believe I never would have accomplished the level of work and freedom in my art that I have, nor would I be the woman I am today, without that sisterhood to encourage me and help me grow. It is a force to be reckoned with! So, from the girls that I talk to every day, to the ones I rarely talk to but blogstalk and am daily inspired by, to the ones that I only get to speak to or see every once in a while: you all have made SUCH an impact on my life and I am eternally grateful. I want to say a HUGE I LOVE YOU and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
So, I challenge you this week is to find at least three women who have affected your journey, your heart, or your life in some way and let them know how they have done so. Sometimes we forget how important it is to tell people what they mean to us and how much they need to hear it.
