New to the blog world, figuring out what to share, how to share it, and what my voice actually sounds like, lol! Thanks for dropping in and joining me on this journey. Let’s jump into re-discovering who I was, where I am, and what I hope my next steps are.
For as long as I can remember, capturing life has been something I’ve always been drawn to. I was fascinated with old photos and the story behind them. I was that 15 year old kid who loved to listen to Frank Sinatra, watch old Hollywood films from around the same era, and hold onto anything I thought held any significance. When I say held onto anything, I mean I loved Hershey Almond Chocolate candy bars. I would save the outside wrapper, tape them up in my locker and store them in notebooks. The silliest of things to hold onto but something I loved at the time that helped remind me of joy. So, I held onto them, as they helped anchor me to joy in that season of life.
Decades later, only a couple basic things have changed. I graduated from collecting candy bar wrappers to loving the hunt in antiquing. I still love those old Hollywood movies and have moved from streaming them to officially collecting the physical copies. Frank Sinatra? Still popping up in my music mixes. Through all of the years though, photography has remained the one thing I have strived after. The one thing I continue to carry through to all areas. And the one thing I still feel like I’ve never been able to really master, turning it into the thing I actually do.
So here is the hard, honest truth. I am good at surviving through the tough parts of life. Without going into too much detail, my family life was a tough one to grow up in. My 20’s were really rough as I navigated trying to figure out who I was as a woman and what it meant to be an adult. As I headed into my late 20’s, I moved out of my home state of Colorado, and landed in San Diego, CA where I gave myself permission to really dream and try new things. It wasn’t 100% great all the time, but it was a season where I moved into my 30’s and felt like I could breathe a little more. As I rounded into my early 30’s I picked up and moved cross country to Nashville, TN. After moving I met my husband of now 7 years. My 30’s were spent navigating marriage, dipping my toes in a couple different work outlets I’ve always been curious about, and still dabbling in photography.
This year, I turned the page into my 40’s and it’s hard not to note that I’ve reach mid-life. It’s hard not to look back and reflect on all the twists and turns I’ve taken. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s hard not to assess where I’m currently at and really ask myself what I really want in the next 40 years. It’s hard not to ask myself what it would look like to not just survive life but move into thriving in it instead.
At 40, my life isn’t without the hard. Merging and creating a life with your forever partner isn’t without it’s challenges, BUT it’s also beautiful, full of great joys, theres honor in pushing & watching one another to grow, and building something that only the two of you together could build. However, as I’ve turned this page into this next decade, I am reminded that there is still time to shift into thriving in life instead of just surviving it. That it’s time to embrace the me that I am, nerves and all. The timid woman who is afraid to take up ANY space but knows she has so much to offer. To not feel shame in asking for days of doing nothing because my soul and my body really need the rest. Time to figure out what putting myself out there as a photographer looks like and taking the time to build a solid foundation for a business to function from. To intentionally spend time growing in my faith, praying for my husband, and making choices for the life we are building and not just reacting to day to day. To acknowledge that some days feel like huge progress, and others feel like setbacks and that both are good and ok. It’s one life I get to live and I have to choose to either lead and thrive in it or continue surviving it. It’s not been perfect and it won’t always be, BUT it’s mine.
Here you’ll find the next half of my life’s journey as I embrace taking steps to lead my life, sharing the moments I capture and reflecting upon the moments of thriving!
Until next time, XO Taura
