Self portraits are on my mind.  With the New Year, there are endless ideas of how to start the next twelve months.  Can I share a creative practice I do as a photographer?  It isn’t about renewing the gym membership or re-committing to a healthier diet or any other practice that acknowledges what I want to do better this coming year.  It’s a practice that acknowledges who I am at this moment in time, this new year, knowing that we are always evolving with each passing year.

These last few weeks, I asked myself ‘What would my Self Portrait be as I enter this new season, the new year?’  What change, transformation, has come?’ As I look back over the last year, I find that I spent more time alone than ever before.  In the past, I have chosen to be with people versus be alone.  I LOVE people and the energy that a rich conversation gives.  Last year, I felt a calling to create intentional time to be with myself.

My morning walks with the dog have become a sacred time to quiet myself, let my mind wander, let prayers unfold, and listen to the rhythm of my steps.  This season represents a shift for me in learning how to sustain myself and my family by first pouring into myself so I can continue to pour out to others.  I asked Blaze, my eight year old, if he would take a photo of mama walking the dog–a self portrait to acknowledge the milestone of this present season.

I asked our Confidence Workshop Teachers to capture their own self portraits. I’m so EXCITED for you to see them.  It’s a photo essay of how diverse and beautiful we are as women.  We’re all in different stages of life, growth, and creativity.  To see that we’re not alone on this journey is powerful.  Their photos will inspire you and get your creative juices flowing to take your own self portraits.

Continue reading by visiting my Babble column and see this awesome photo gallery of our CONFIDENCE teachers and their Self Portraits…

xo,

m