I don't know this photographer. But I gather she is past college. I am in awe of these pictures and how much she is putting herself out there, for the whole internet to pass around as they please. She has to be sure of herself to be able to do this.
I was asked during my freshman year of college what qualities I'd love to possess but struggled with. At the time, I really wished I could be sure of myself. It's been around 828,000 minutes since my big day in May of '09, give or take a month of minutes :P and I have changed. I think I put myself out in the open more often, since I grew more confident in myself within the safety of college, kind friends, guidance from people I respected and trusted. I've also grown more confident with my knowledge within my field and sometimes I forget to go out and challenge myself.
My awesome friend Shenan has been doing so much of that recently. She just celebrated reading her thesis for her master's. She wrote about this and a few other exciting things that have been happening to her:
Overall though, it kind of blew me away that I did any of this at all. A few years ago, I would never have put myself out there in all the ways I have recently. I think grad school, work experiences, and growing up in general probably all contribute to this.
So, tonight, I want to celebrate exactly what Shenan wrote so beautifully. That we're always moving towards not only that which we can't predict in our lives, but also the things that we never could see ourselves even attempting to do. If that doesn't make you get excited to live life, I don't know what will. There are still so many future goals, still so many things that make our stomachs turn over, and so many fruits that we get to enjoy after we go out on a limb to grab them. That feels awesome. I hope you enjoy these things - and I hope more than anything, that this post gives me a kick in the pants to crawl out on that limb and reach for a piece of juicy fruit. If it's sour, I know there's just a forest full of trees for me to try out, and lots of people around me to encourage me that the only way you'll get what you've never gotten is to do what you've never done.
