Inspiration is a wonderful thing. It can come from anywhere and cause the creation of a whole lot of things. Some things turn out just like what I had in mind. Some things, not so much (failures: aka “lessons”). And then there are times when the outcome is even better than what was expected!!
Last month I submitted some photos to a photo critique. One of them inspired a friend to take a self portrait with her son. And guess what? When I saw her photo, I was blown away!!! and inspired to create my own based off of hers.
The “inspirational” photo was taken during a fall photo session with one of the most beautiful families (inside and out!) that I know. One of the daughters was just relaxing in her mother’s arms while I was busy interacting with her sisters. I turned and was like “golden”. This is love. This is connection. This is real (bc I didn’t “orchestrate” any of it). It is one of the mother’s favorite photographs from the session and I totally know why (it is one of my favorites too!!).
Dana of Photography by Dana Rae saw that image and created a self portrait with her son. I just love how his little hands are holding hers, his innocent eyes are gazing into yours, and her mothering hand lovingly combing his hair on top. Let me tell you, when I saw it, I was like, “Wow!! And why haven’t done something like that?”
So I did. That very next Saturday (which also happened to be the very next day), I asked my second to take a few pictures with me. She’s the lovey one who is always up for a snuggle. Her eyes calmly gazing out the window, her head on my arms, and her hands holding onto mine…all of it just makes my mom heart happy. I would love to have an image like this with each of my girls, but that hasn’t quite happened yet.
I believe these pictures describe what being a mom is like: we are the safe place for them, keeping them close, yet letting them shine. Maybe I should read some Mother’s Day cards to get a more poetic description of a mom, but then again, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Speaking of Mother’s Day, it is just around the corner. Moms like flowers and pictures of their kids. Just going to leave that there (insert winking emoji….and I can get a gift certificate to you if needed…insert another winking emoji).
Enjoy your day and thank you for reading!!
(Funning thing about this post is that it was meant to be about inspiration not mothers, but kind of like how it worked out!).
