What do you do when life hands you trial after trial, difficulty after difficulty? What do you do when you've done everything right, when you've been honest and good and loving but the world still seems to crumble before you?
From watching Sarah, and other incredible people like her, I have learned what to do. You straighten your shoulders, you take a deep breath, and you press forward.
You press forward because what else is there to do?
What are your options if not to keep going?
This year since I've known Sarah and photographed her I have seen her move and change and embrace difficult changes. I've seen her stand tall despite the heaviness of a situation.
She hasn't stopped moving, literally or figuratively- you really should see this woman dance.
"I want to be raw and real and lovely," Sarah told me.
What an interesting word, raw.
Uncovered and vulnerable and seen.
That's not always a pretty look . . . sometimes being raw is scary because we come face to face with the things we maybe wish weren't there.
We have to face the less bright, less put together aspects of who we are.
"Truly loving yourself means loving your shadow."
When Sarah said that I just about dropped the phone.
Isn't that brilliant?
As someone who thought hating the 'less than good' things about myself was the right thing, this was freeing.
This was eye-opening.
This was grounding.
This is true.
And that's what Sarah offers, raw truth.
She is this in every encounter I've had with her. There was no need to put on energy that was fake. No need to present a part of herself that wasn't true.
Sarah exists in a space of forward motion in the midst of truly loving herself . . . and that is not easy.
Yet, somehow, Sarah does this everyday and she teaches others how to do it too.
She is open with her raw reality, her shadow.
And when I look at her I think, "Wow! She's so beautiful and she's being honest about her flaws and her tragedies in life . . . . yet she's still absolutely breathtaking."
That's what honesty gives you.
That's what loving all the remarkable and damaged parts of you creates.
It gives and creates true beauty.
Beauty that wont be tarnished or dimmed.
Beauty that won't wear away when the winds of trial come rushing in.
Sarah lives a life in light, in movement, in sound, in shadow, and in truth.
And it has made her absolutely beautiful.
Love,
Melinda
Photography Studio in Athens PA. Serving Athens, Sayre Pennsylvania, Towanda Pennsylvania, Corning New York, and Twin Tiers area.
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