Finding Your Beautiful

As people we want to feel comfortable in our skin, as women we want to feel beautiful. That illusive euphoric feeling of walking on air, where everyone is admiring you, stopping to say hello and every comment is flattering words. Beauty is a strange thing, it means different things to different people, but we all share that want to have it and hold onto it.

Last week I saw one of the popular video’s that have been floating around the internet lately showcasing the “ideal body type throughout history” it covers the female form from ancient Egypt, until the modern 2010’s. As I sat there watching our ideals of beauty change through the eras I wondered to myself, why is the ‘social ideal’ so important that we often limit our happiness by it?

Disregard social norms because normal is average and you are so much more than average. Disregard what those around you say, if they have nothing nice to say stop listening. Wear rose tinted glasses in the mirror, you don’t have to love yourself just stop hating, you are good enough now. I want you to know that it is the crazy little thing’s that make you truly unique. Every scar is proof that you are stronger than whatever tried to hurt you. Every grey hair is a moment shared with family and friends. Every outfit choice a reflection of the character you want to be today. Your extraordinary laugh that makes the whole room giggle, these quirks are yours and yours alone.

I am a portrait photographer and it is my passion to make women feel amazing, to spark every persons hidden personality and show them their own beautiful. Your beauty is unique to you and no one before or after will ever be the same type of beautiful as you, so please hear me, “you are beautiful now”.

Know that is intangible, it’s the sparkle in the smile, the swagger in a walk, the fluttering of eyes at someone special. It’s the secret connection you have with the world: your experiences, your emotions your thoughts. You are greater than your physical appearance it’s everything you have ever achieved, everything you have seen, everything want to be. Don’t look back and wish you appreciated what you had then, how good you looked or how pretty you really were. You can’t change how you felt in the past but you can change how you feel about yourself now, you have the opportunity for your future self to know you have “found your beautiful” here and now.

 And so I did it myself, it was time for an updated profile photo and a great reason to feel amazing again.

Time changes us; for good or bad, time changes everything. This Christmas break I had the opportunity to make big changes, well the plans really started about last July.

I have been offered the opportunity to move into a new studio space, which means saying goodbye to the old one, my very first inner city photography studio.

I just loved it, it was quaint and cosy; 20m² cosy, with beautiful architectural elements that were perfect for the art deco style of the building, and beige walls that just begged to be repainted. But it was mine and I could do whatever I wanted in there.

I was incredibly lucky to find the space; something cosy and perfect for a fledgling business. I walked into ‘The Old Library Building’ a year & a half ago and spotted a tiny little notice hanging on their wall mentioning a sunny office space to rent. And with motivation from my partner who told me I needed a ‘workspace of my own’ because I was driving him crazy, I signed on the dotted line.

This was my first lesson in watching for “opportunities that whisper at you”, whether it's a small notice that grabs your attention, a passing comment that someone makes or seeing something new… if it sparks your imagination RUN WITH IT. I can’t count the number of times a tiny opportunity has become a changing moment in my business and my life.

So a week before the new studio opened for the new year, we shifted everything down the hall and into the new space. That’s right same address, same building, different view! I love creating something new, it's an exciting moment when you can dream about making something and with a little hard work it happens. Never let a “whispered opportunity” pass you by, if you have a dream chase it, don’t give up hope, you will find a way.