love on display
on march 14, 2014 i took a page from my own book and put my love on display.
the setting
my cozy new york city apartment
the event
a silent auction of twelve of my photographs
the purpose
to love a little louder than i did the day before.
for the silent auction i chose photographs i love and have loved. photographs that in various ways tell my story. the room was filled with people from many phases of my life. and fitting with women's history month, the women in my life came in full force. they included:
my sister with whom i shared a womb. rugged city streets and jagged rural lands served as the backdrop of our lives growing up. amazing how differently we remember that world and how similarly, yet with distinct variation, we navigate this one. we were both fashionably late.
my sister friends.
my rainmaker. i met her when the edges of the younger me began to blend with the edges of the woman i would one day become. she has loved me for simply being. she loves me in ways i am learning to love myself.
my lady v. she shares a first initial with me and with her I have traversed the world of adult friendships and motherhood. she is my reminder that if we are lucky and pay attention, we can collect beautiful souls along the way who give of themselves in all the ways we need them most.
my witty one. when asked how we met i say, without skipping a beat, that we met in therapy. while the therapy group was a bit of a mess i know for certain the only reason the universe put me there was the meet her.
my wild one. she forces me to participate. live this life. put myself out there. reminding me always that i am enough, that we are not difficult to love, our love is just complex in its simplicity and that the house always wins.
my momtographer. she drew me in with these beautiful images of her family and has since held me captive with her even more beautiful desire to just be better (and she is hilarious). it's fair to say i stalked her in 2009 and made her my friend. she is an honest critic and a giving supporter. she makes me braver.
my best friend. she gets me the way sisters made so by life and love and sadness and laughter get each other. even when she is not in the room, she manages to fill it. lovingly encouraging me to honor and own my gifts
these glorious women in my life were met with other beautiful supporters. men and women who champion me and those of us who strive to make beautiful things. to make beauty of things.
i think i will call this chapter in my story the game changer. the pages where i came from behind the protection of facebook likes and instagram hearts to share myself in this real world where people talk and touch over conversation. where we get so close that we see the tiniest speck of dust left behind on a photograph or witness the exact moment a laugh line fades and is forever etched in our souls.
my heart is full. the fear i felt leading up to that day paled in comparison to the love that was present. okay, the glass of red wine helped with the fear a bit too. on 3.14.14 i took a few more deliberate steps towards having what i love be what i do with this life every day. on 3.14.14 i came to more fully realize that my story is just like those i aim to capture. my story is worthy. it deserves to be shared. it is the miracle that lives inside me. my story doesn't end here. this is where it begins. each day i get to add to my story. each day i get to create moments in time where the people i love or have loved or could love or will love will witness my love and be inspired in all they ways they inspire me.
April 11, 2014
