is it all fleeting?

We have a friend who likes to discuss the state of the world through the lens of philosophy. It’s invigorating and, quite frankly, a lot of fun to be the one who grounds him. It’s easy, sometimes, to fly into your own head and buzz around in your own thoughts and let them consume you from the inside out. I do that a lot: allow my thoughts to consume me. Sometimes those thoughts are hopeful, residing in a dream like state of every possibility at my fingertips. More often than not, these days, the thoughts are anxiety ridden questions about the future. What will tomorrow bring, what about next year, 5 years. The prognosis, if you listen to the news at all, is not good. So I try my best to reside more in the hazy, sunset filled, garden producing, chickens laying eggs, slow mornings, lake swims, world of positivity and possibilities. Which, actually, is my day to day reality when I stop focusing on the anxiety and manage to stay present. Life is, actually, good. In a world where imagery is hugely distorted by ai, stories are often at the very least, biased, if not completely false, and 100 percent meant to drive capitalism in all its utterly destructive glory, it’s hard to stay present in your own life and see the goodness dripping from your every day.

So what can we do. Social media is continuously pointing out how bad social media is for our mental health while trying to solve the problem by being the problem. But we need it to sell our products, sessions, selves. We have put ourselves in an impossible position of relying on the things we know are our demise to continue to connect, create, capitalize.

I have no solutions. As my philosophical friend keeps telling me, my solution of going backwards isn’t going to work. My solution of putting your hands in the dirt, growing a tomato or 100, snuggling a chicken, and turning off the technology is not going to solve the problems. Though it does help with anxiety. And maybe we are, as a species, always going to push toward the next thing just for the sake of it, but damn, I don’t know if anything beats a tomato grown in your own backyard.

I’m rambling, when really, I only came on here to make a post about my family short sessions I have coming up on October 17th. Maybe they are an opportunity to step outside of all the worries, snuggle your people and be present in the beauty that is your life, for ½ an hour, while overlooking the vastness of the ocean and feeling the salt air on your skin. That too, is another reminder of the goodness in our world.

Well, this turned out to be a bit sappy and maybe depressing? Geez. That wasn’t my intention, but these are thoughts I think on a daily basis. How do I “sell” what I do when it sometimes feels a bit trivial in comparison. But then I have a session where someone surprises their partner with a proposal and she’s crying and laughing, or a session where the parents stop for a moment on the edge of the water and watch their kid’s wild energy flying out of them, able to be very present with them in a way they can’t always be. And I remember, that there is a very real reason to offer what I do. It’s not just about the final images I take, it’s about that small amount of time where you get to connect with your people in a way that reminds you of the goodness of your life.

Okay, enough rambling. Here are the details:

October 17 on the cliff at Lawrencetown Beach. We meet in the parking lot of the MacDonald House (Lawrencetown Cafe). I have 45 minutes allotted to the ½ hour sessions so that we have buffer time. You get all the fully edited photos, I don’t have a minimum or maximum. Sessions are $450+tax.

Here is the link to book BOOK YOUR SESSION

Hope to see you on the hill!

xoxo,

D.