Her Trusting Heart

She was just a lady at a party, one more person that I didn't know in a house where I'd never been.  We had met briefly when I came in the door, but she didn't light up until she noticed me pull my camera out of my bag. 

"Are you a professional?"  Um, not really.  (gulp.)

"Do you do portraits?"  Uh, only if no one's paying attention.

"Can I hire you to take my picture for my website?"  By this point, I loved her for her unfounded confidence in me and unapologetic persistence.  I was the one who could capture her, she just knew it, and she couldn't let it go.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with taking people's portraits for a purpose, on purpose, but something about this lady made me want to try.  Come on in the backyard, I beckoned.  Let's do it right now.  And then, Do you want to comb your hair?  At this she laughed and said she thought her hair was just fine, her eyes fiilling up with light to show me her sweet and tender, trusting heart.

I played photographer and she smiled for the camera, and we got this shot, messy hair and all.  I sent it to her after, quite sheepish that it wasn't the masterpiece I'd hoped to pull off on the spot, but she didn't care.  She trusted me, and she knew from the first instant I was the right one to capture her soul.

Do you ever get pegged "the photographer" whether you feel like you merit the title or the role?  Show us those pics you were on the spot to shoot.  Show us what you can do when someone believes in you, even when you're not so sure you can believe in your own fledgling photographer self.

Summer, Please Be Kind

They look like angels, right?  Like the kind of children who would sit quietly for hours playing board games, drawing pictures, asking if they finished all their thank you notes. 

But you already know better. 

They are little demons of adventure.  They want to ride their bikes in construction sites.  They want to turn the room above the garage into a kid-style karaoke bar.  They want cash for an IKEA run so they can buy a hundred of those twirly egg chairs, so they can line them up on the driveway and spin themselves silly. They want to run businesses!  Have dance parties!  Build rockets!

Now I'm planning to fly around the world and take pictures of hope--which is amazing!  which is a miracle!--but seriously, sisters, I pray to God these kids will have mercy on their subjects--oops! i mean supervisors--while I'm working around the clock, getting ready to go.  I pray a nice kind Mary Poppins whose way smarter than they are will land on my doorstep and whip us all into shape, before Kid Nation rules my world.

What are you wishing for this summer?  Who are the subjects at your house who are threatening a takeover?  Show us your angels, your demons, your precious darlings with those impish grins.  We need to know what you're facing, as summer stares us down.

Out of the Bag, Onto the Road

She pressed it into my hand before she left.  You'll need this, her eyes said, if not now, later.  I nodded, the cold edges of the token warming to my touch.  I waited until she was out of sight to examine it and then stuffed it deep into my jeans pocket.

I didn't think much of it after that, but every then and again, when I was feeling particularly low, I'd come across this little charm--in the bottom of my purse, in my coat pocket--and I'd remember how my friend wanted me to know that I wouldn't be alone, even when I thought I was, even when I was sure no one was noticing my life unravel one fabulous thread at a time.

It's been months since I came across my trinket.  I don't know if I dropped her in the grocery store or if somewhere in my travels she tumbled out of my bag and onto the road.  I miss finding her in unlikely moments.  I wish she would find me now, in this instant where it's hard to remember everything will be all right, when I'm wondering where I am.  When I'm imagining where I'll go.

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Do you have a tricket, a charm, a tiny thing on your dresser, on your windowsill, that makes you a little bit stronger, that leaves you a little more happy?  Show us your treasures in the comments below.

The Real You

It's not everyday you get to be seen for the real you.

Sometimes your chance comes when you stand on a stage.  Other times it happens when you lay your head on a pillow.  No matter how it comes, that moment of recognition is all it takes to make you feel like a real star.

When was the last time you saw the real somebody when you looked through your lens?  Show us your shining stars in your pics today, and if someone by chance had the talent to reveal the real you, show us that photo, too.

Before You Fly

Before you fly, I'm learning, you have to have a nest.  I've always had trouble patching together a safe place, prefering instead to stay aflight, above the fray.  This time, however, I'll have to land before I take off.  I'll have to find my own circle of quiet where the truth sits like a robin's blue egg waiting for a warm place to hatch, waiting for the hope of a new life to be born.

Show us your nest today--that cozy corner of your house, your home, your soul where you understand everything's going to be so all right, no matter where you fly, no matter where you soar.