Heaven

Image shot with a Lensbaby.

On the first day of spring, we braved the cold Portland rain, threw our suitcases in the back of the car and headed for the airport. I couldn't help but feel giddy. Giddy to be leaving it all behind for a couple of days. And when our little plane finally landed in Palm Springs four hours later and we stepped out onto the tarmac, out into blinding bright sunshine and wide open blue skies, I wanted to cry. Giddy is maybe not even the word. This trip to Palm Springs had been in the works for months. The fine folks at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club had invited me down all the way back in August but due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't actually able to take them up on the offer for a good six months. I know now that the timing was perfect, that the whole thing had come to fruition at exactly the right moment and as our cab pulled into the driveway of the Ace, I felt my shoulders relax. I looked at my sweet friend Nataly (who I'd invited along for the ride) and I think maybe I squealed, I don't know. 

When it comes to traveling, I am notorious for over-planning. I get excited about new cities, new places and want to learn everything I possibly can so that I can plan extraordinary experiences. I try to leave room for things to just happen but more often than not, we are rushing from one thing to the next. With Palm Springs, I let all that go. My only plan for our 48 hours was to just let things unfold. To raise my camera when it felt right. To wholly surrender to the experience. And for 48 hours, that's exactly what we did. We wandered the grounds and lounged in hammocks. We laid in bed and listened to records. We drank mexican coke in white flannel robes by the patio fireplace and ordered room service. We hopped in and out of the photobooth (and then in and out again) and borrowed bikes from the Ace to ride into town. We floated on our backs in the swimming pool and looked up at the stars. We sat in the quiet of the diner and talked. Sometimes I picked my camera up, sometimes I didn't. 

It was exquisite. 

I didn't want to leave. Ever. I wanted to send for my husband and children and maybe a few of our things. I wanted to start a new life in room 237. But when the time finally came to leave, I felt rested and ready to go, ready to take on the real world and a hundred other little things. And as our cab pulled away, my mind jumped ahead to October. I couldn't help but feel excited about Shutter Sisters Oasis. And I couldn't imagine a more perfect place for it. 

Today, share with us a time when you just let it all go, relaxed into life, and allowed it to unfold.

***Just a reminder: Registration for Oasis opens today, at 9am Pacific Standard Time. We do hope you can join us!***

it calls to me

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.  ~ Doug Larson

Oh my, we've had the craziest weather for this time of year. May temps in March! It's amazing what a little fresh air and sunshine can do for a person. Seriously so good.

Every day this week the porch swing has called to me.... 'come sit'..... and I do.... Even if it's just for a few moments. As I sit....the sun warms right through me. It's such a beautiful thing. I feel renewed...alive... more hopeful...inspired..... It's as if I'm bubbbling over. It's just so good.

Spring fever has hit!

How 'bout you? Share a little 'spring' with us today.

on International Women's Day

Two years ago I visited Haiti for the first time, as a woman. Let me clarify, I have always been a girl, have all the parts and PMS to prove it but something happened to me when I made the decision to visit Haiti. The woman in me emerged.

I spent my toddler years in Haiti, yet when I decided to travel there in 2010, it had been more than 25 years since I had visited. It started with an ambitious list I drafted for myself to accomplish in one years time. My first order of business was to learn more about my culture, "become more Haitian", so to speak. This small task had a sub-goal, instructions if you will, which would make the task easier. Underneath I wrote "reconnect with family" mind you family living in Haiti to whom I had been estranged from since my late teens. I was convinced that it would be that simple: travel to Haiti + connect with estranged family = be more Haitian. As the universe usually does, it responded to my request in a big way. It shook the world, the earth cracked open and so did my heart. The earthquake came and my fate was sealed.

Sometime before I left, I spoke with my aunt who visits the island frequently. I admitted I was afraid of Haiti, of Haitians. I was afraid that I wouldn't know what to say, to do or even how to act. I had no idea what to bring or how I would be received. She, in her stern voice, reminded me that I was going to bring love and I was going to receive love, in this, there was nothing to fear. She was right.

I flew alone to Port-au-Prince. My aunts greeted me at the airport. We drove through the broken streets and I inhaled the scents of my country. Immediately, I was comfortable and in love with these women, my people, myself. I was eager to be out of the car so I could sit with these loves, and have my heart reflected back to me. Finally the moment came when we three could gather in the small seating area of the makeshift refuge and sat and shared. In that moment, my everything was everything. The women of Haiti welcomed me to see myself, to understand what it means to be Haitian and to be a woman of delicious brown color. They cooked for me, they shared stories, they laughed at me and with me. They inspired me. I have never been more clear about my core values. I knew right away that I was blessed. Over the weeks of my visit, I met many wonderful people. I spent time with family and made new friends. Always the women would hold my heart in all it's vulnerability and teach the girl in me how to be a woman. These aunts and mothers and sisters and daughters carry the hurt of Haiti and they bestow the joy of Haiti too.  I was and am so proud to be a woman and to have the honor to carry the words, the wealth and the wisdom of whole cultures and generations.

Today is International Women's Day! Let's celebrate ourselves in gratitude of the many women who inspire us to wonder, to try earnestly and to welcome possibilities. Share an image of yourself with women in your life that have taught you to honor yourself.

Images and words by the wonderful Myriam Loeschen.

the great wide open

There have been times when I've got my head and heart so wrapped up in something that I lose sight of everything else. Sometimes it's work related, or I'm focusing on family matters or it can even be just the drudgery of the daily grind that  can keep me down. Whatever the case, some days feel a lot less hopeful then others.

Luckily, there always comes days when with the sun I look up, and out, and past the place I've been and I can see into the great wide open. The place where hope lives and the beauty of possibility lifts my spirits and soothes my soul. Where I am content to be where I am and also energized to move forward. Why wouldn't I be? Look at that place. It's awesome!

Of course, if everyday looked like that, then I wouldn't be nearly as impressed, or spellbound or enchanted by what I see. The contrast of the not-so-great days in comparison to days that look like this make the this so much sweeter.

My guess is you know exactly what I'm talking about. That the darkness makes way for light far more beautiful than any other light you've ever seen. That coming up for air and seeing this stretch out before you feels better than you could have ever remembered. That's the thing about hope and love and beauty. You can only experience it to it's fullest when it's been gone for a while.

As we begin this week, share a image that offers a view of the great wide open, full of possibility! Let's all soak in the goodness of today...and tomorrow.

grounded

Whenever I gather with friends or family... I will reach for my camera, (more often enough it’s my iphone...) and photograph us together, feet on the ground.

I love how it tells the story of who is with me and where are are standing...

I know plenty of you out there do the same, I’d love to see your "grounded gathered together" shots, and if you’ve never done one before... why don’t you try one next time you’re gathered with your loved ones.