When do you feel free?
The kind of uninhibited, unrestricted, six-year-old-you-free?
One of the things I love about photographing children is that I get to witness them feeling free. These moments unlock my own sense of freedom and aliveness.
When I witness somebody feeling fully alive, I also feel fully alive.
The mighty in Mighty Mini Sessions comes from this aliveness , which to me means feeling inspired, empowered, and connected – infused with and emanating possibility.
Last week I photographed 18 kids in Mighty Mini Sessions at Evergreen Brick Works. They ranged in age from 1 to 8. Some were slow to warm up and some were fast and free. All of them possessed magic.
There was one session that left me feeling especially inspired, empowered, and connected, and got me thinking about freedom and self expression.
How do you feel when you see these photos? In your body, heart, and mind?
This child’s sense of freedom in her body was contagious – I felt a shift in my own body just watching her move.
For the past few years I’ve been learning about and practicing nervous system regulation and somatic experiencing. I believe the more aware we are of our sensations, emotions, and thoughts, the more agency, peace, and joy we have in our lives.
My response to this photo session was a settling in my body – an expansive inhale and a relaxing exhale, shoulders dropped, a new softness in my belly. In my heart, tearful joy.
I thought, “I want to be this kid when I grow up.”
I long for her unobstructed self expression.
Listening to a podcast conversation a few years back I heard someone say that his goal was unobstructed self expression. It was one of those moments where you hear a truth that resonates so deeply and that someone has said so simply, in a way that you have always felt but have never been able to put words to. It was winter, I was going for a walk by myself in the woods up North, on a weekend away with my family in between chemo treatments. It was a hard time – my aliveness and self expression were being dampened by breast cancer.
I still haven’t found a way to remove all of the obstructions to expressing my true self – the obstructions between me and the world, between me and you – maybe this is what keeps me seeking and creating.
When you remove the obstructions to self expression, you are seen and heard.
This is what I want for all of us.
A few weeks ago I had the experience of being photographed by Catherine Lash, as an invitation to experience what I want for others – to feel seen and heard.
I had been working with Catherine to clarify my purpose and to live it more fully. (Catherine’s workshops and programs are incredible for anyone who wants to live and work with more meaning, impact and joy)
I thought about what conditions I needed to feel free – a safe space with trusted people, music that makes me want to move my body. So I put on a playlist of music that unlocks movement and emotion for me, gave Catherine my camera, and let myself feel joy and freedom in my body.
It’s an intimate experience to let somebody witness you surrendering completely, and I’ve never been that good at allowing myself to do this. It takes practice. As a person who is very sensitive to others’ energy, I often find it challenging to fully be in my own.
Being photographed in my full aliveness, I felt disarmed, a greater sense of freedom, wonder, connection, empathy, compassion. I felt rooted in my own agency. I felt seen and heard.
How can you let yourself be witnessed feeling free?