I still worked of course. :) but not as much.
I spent time with my daughter - we had two date nights. We enjoyed good food and shopping. When we were on our way home, she told me, "Mom I really had a nice time with you. Thank you for doing this and taking me to go have fun. My favorite though was just spending time with you."
And above that she thanked me probably 20x - in all honestly - for just the things I bought her.
She's a beautiful little girl and a little love goes a long way with her. Her love languages are not mine. Though she is my daughter - I am acts of service. I realized this weekend she is quality time. And in the same breath I wanted to cry because I feel like in all honesty - I fail her in that all too often. Sure I am here each day to get her on and off the bus. I help her with her homework. I help her get her clothes put away. I help her brush her hair each morning and help get her outfits ready.... but I work a lot. And though I work from home, many times she is told to "hold on just a minute, honey." And she waits. Though she has every right to be impatient sometimes.
She sees the back of my head more than I want her to. And while I am teaching her that you can have a dream and build it into something.. That you can start with very little and work - with elbow grease and effort, a lot of effort - into something that can sustain an income... I am also teaching her that sometimes I work morning to early morning... and that is hard. It's ok to work hard. It's admirable. But.. I also need to be teaching her to take time - time to just do nothing. Time to relax. Time to find a little retail therapy and hot chocolate. Someday she will be a mother - and while I will be proud of her for whatever path she chooses - I hope she finds time to rejuvenate. It's so ironic how we WANT these things for our children, yet we cannot find it for ourselves. How we would tell them if they were in our shoes, to slow down, catch your breath and find some downtime. Yet.. we fail to find it for ourselves.
She often tells me, "Mom I want to marry a rich man and be a house-mom."
I laugh. And smile at her. Partially proud and partially entertained at her little idea of reality. She will grow up the daughter of two middle class, hard-working blue collars. She will learn that nothing comes easily. That being successful requires a lot of hard work. That nothing comes handed to you. And I am proud that she will learn those things from us. I hope that she also learns there is never enough love between parent and child - and pride as well. That in our eyes, she is perfect and beautiful.
In addition to taking time off with my sweet girl this weekend - I watched a course on creativeLIVE with Sue Bryce - almost 3/4 of it. I had to miss parts due to work, etc. I can't say enough about how life-changing this course was. All 3 days. I have to say she had me laughing, she had me in tears. Her true candor and no BS attitude literally had me mesmerized. There are not many REAL people out there - but by far - she is very real and very incredibly talented. She's a true story of not having anything handed to you, but making it - with hard work and ambition. I bought her class video and am going to be re-watching it and listening to it over the next several weeks. I admire her style, her use of natural light - but beyond that, her vision of femininity and BEAUTY.
Sue Bryce is a photographer of women mostly. Glamour/Beauty. The kind of work you see in magazines. Breath-taking. But what I love most about her - she photographs ordinary, beautiful women and gives them an experience they will not soon forget, or ever forget for that matter. She gives them a rejuvenation of themselves. We work. We have kids. We put ourselves last, all too often {and whether we have children or not - we at some point lose sight of the beauty we possess} She brings it back. Women want to feel beautiful. Even if only for themselves. We want to have that captured. As we age. As we journey. We work hard and we owe it to ourselves to take the time and money to do it. It is evidence - to anyone who loved us, that we were as beautiful inside as out.
I have always had a heart for women. And while I occasionally do and can shoot boudoir - my love is in showing a woman's beauty - simply just that. Even if they are barefoot and in a tank and jeans. Whether it's boudoir or not - I desperately want to find those moms out there who from the time they get the kids out the door and on the bus to the time they lay their heads on the pillow - to catch a break and just take some time for themselves. Women need it. We give, give and give all day. We need it back. It's like that spa trip we make to find sanity. I think we need a portrait session to find our inner beauty again. And in finding that inner beauty - our natural reaction is for our outer beauty to shine as well.
Girls in this world are pretty important you know. We have a big job to do. But we mustn't lose ourselves. Rejuvenating, regaining that back.... is soooo important.
I have some thinking to do about how I want to market to this specific niche for women, but it's coming. I am already processing.... and I greatly look forward to having something JUST for women, to offer them to rejuvenate and feel simply radiant.
I have this poster hanging in my studio of Rosie the Riveter from World War II. I love it. I have always admired strong women. I am drawn to them. Ask me about my best friend and I will tell you she is the strongest woman I know. I believe I am too ... a strong woman. I admire the woman who is a small business owner. I admire her because I know how hard she works. I admire her more when I know she is also a mother, a wife. Those are two additional full-time jobs. We have to break to learn though. And we have to rejuvenate to restart. It is an investment in ourselves. For the busy mom or woman in general, taking time to take time off is a huge investment. What if this doesn't get done, what if that doesn't get done.
Take it off. Take it off.
Simply
Take
it
off.
Love you more.
So in summary. Women inspire me. Sue Bryce inspires me.
And I hope someday, I inspire my daughter.
And if I have done even and only that, I have succeeded in more ways than I had hoped.
