Author Archives: vivienne

March 29, 2013

Oprah + Self-Love Graffiti + Selfies + Me = One Amazing Day

Did this really happen?

Is Oprah’s photo really on the same page as one of my self-portraits?

I’m still kind of shocked to say, yes!

Today took an unexpected turn when the lovely Catherine Just emailed me to let me know that she had just gotten a newsletter from Oprah.com featuring one of my photos in it (and i LOVE that she knew right away it was my photo)! Here’s a link to the article! And here is a link to a second image of mine in the slideshow!

Oh my gosh!

I did know that there was a chance this photo could end up somewhere related to Oprah as a writer contacted me a month or so ago to ask permission to use some photos from this blog post in an article but that it was for the Oprah Page of the Huffington Post (which was exciting enough) but to find out this morning that it was actually on Oprah.com instead was VERY cool!

For someone who grew up watching Oprah’s TV show almost every afternoon after school as a teen, this feels kind of surreal!

I’m feeling extra grateful that this photo in particular was used, not because it is a fancy photo at all but because self-portraiture as a way to cultivate self-love is the message I feel I have to most offer the world so it feels pretty powerful that that is the message that ended up there!

And I hope it will inspire people to take out their sidewalk chalk and leave messages and to keep their eyes open for these secret messages from the universe.

Thank you so much for celebrating this with me my friends! This definitely doesn’t happen every day!

March 26, 2013

Full Circle

Sometimes, some days, we get a glimpse back at how far we’ve come.

We get to spend time with someone who knew and loved us way back then.

And you get reminded of that 19 year old you.

The one who didn’t think she was worthy of love.

The one who didn’t think she was beautiful.

The one who was deeply broken.

And you get to stop for a second and acknowledge how far you’ve come.

To acknowledge that you know longer believe those stories.

That you finally feel worthy of love.

That you finally feel beautiful.

That you have dug deep into the healing.

And you can’t help but cry because it is a beautiful thing while at the same time,

You can’t help but grieve that 19 year old and her pain.

Not only her but also your 34 year old self who still believed it and all the years between,

Because it took that long to re-write those stories.

You even surprise yourself as you feel gratitude for all of these years of being single.

Because to be able to get to that place of healing, finally.

Without proof that you are lovable. Or beautiful.

Without someone reassuring you with love in their eyes.

Finally coming to the place where you can see that in the mirror.

Where you saved yourself.

Where you feel like you are worthy of love, not because someone is offering it to you.

But because you simply are.

We all are.

First and foremost from ourselves.

And it is not that this is the place of success or ultimate healing.

Rather it is only the pause before the next level of healing reveals itself.

Self-love isn’t a utopian place we arrive at, it is layers and years of showing up for yourself.

But sometimes, some days we get to pause and look back and weep in gratitude and in grief and all the emotions in between

for the journey of being human and learning to see yourself with love.

So you pick up the camera.

Not for anyone else other than yourself.

Because days like this need to be remembered.

When we get to see full circle.

March 25, 2013

A Dreamy Beach Photo Shoot & Gathering

Beautiful luscious dresses, velvet coats and romantic scarves.

Champagne and the most delicioius grain free crumpets, strawberries and whipped cream.

A quiet cove with curly trees and curvy rocks.

A gathering of incredible women at dawn.

This weekend took a magical turn when my lovely friend Madelyn Mulvaney invited me to shoot photos of a gathering of women, the photos to be accompanying a couple articles she is writing for some of our favourite magazines (from Stampington of course).

We got up at the crack of dawn (literally….like 5 am) and drove south to just outside of Bellingham to this beautiful beach. We set up our picnic, got dressed up in luscious clothing, cracked open champagne, savoured the incredible crumpets Jennette had made for us and shared stories. Then before I knew it, it was time to head home…my camera full of hundreds of photos for the article and the whole thing felt like a dream!

While I will definitely share more photos from this amazing picnic at some point, I thought I’d share a few of the ones captured by my iPhone during those beautiful morning hours.

A BIG highlight was meeting the wonderful Jennette who I had met online 2 years ago when she took You are Your Own Muse. Getting to meet people I’ve gotten to know through their self-portraits is beyond incredible and I only wish it hadn’t taken me 2 years to get to meet her in person!

Almost all of the props and styling in this photoshoot came from her magic. She also runs a shop called Smashing Rubbish and she is truly a goddess of props and set design…she has a total gift.

Totally honoured to get to join in on this beautiful dreamy morning!

March 22, 2013

My Company Self-Care Policies!

So, I’m 2 years into running a creative business and I feel like I’m just starting to really let go of feeling like its a short term thing! I’m more in love with this work than ever and I feel like I’m starting to stand stronger and really gain focus on where I want to take it! One fun way that has transpired is something that I’ve mentioned in a few interviews lately….my new ‘Company Policies’ (just saying it that way makes me giggle a bit, as its just me in my tiny East Vancouver apartment or the nearby cafe running this business…company policies make me think of offices and suits) but somehow saying it that way makes me feel like I have to do them!

Luckily, these policies are really centered around self-care.

I have two company policies:

Monday morning is journaling & goal setting time.

Friday afternoons are hiking time!

I know, fun right!

Since I don’t have a normal work week (and often work weekends) it feels like a way I can ground myself in the start and the end of the typical work week.

Monday mornings (and if not possible, at least sometime early in the week) I head over to one of my favourite cafe’s Little Nest with my journal. It feels good to have one place I go that I don’t use my computer and where it isn’t really the cafe culture to. Sometimes I’ll bring along a book I’m reading or something for research. Each week I try to make some goals for the week both energetically and monetarily. I also tend to make a priority to do list in my journal (even though I use TeuxDeux on my iPhone and computer for list making) but something about writing it down really feels right. Then I just let myself have some journal time to spill out whatever I need to. I love this time fiercely and am kind of amazed sometimes at what spills out into the journal. I think sometimes putting pen to paper frees our brain to create in a way that the computer doesn’t for me.

Fridays are hiking time! Sometimes I hike with friends but I try to make sure that I go alone too, because I find that these hikes clear my head like nothing else! I’ve had some great ideas for E-Courses wandering through the woods. It also just gets me away from my computer and moving, which feels amazing. On rainy fridays I’ll either go Saturday instead or I’ll replace it with more journalling time.

The thing I’m finding with both of these things is that they are just as important as sitting in front of my computer working. They are work. They make space for creativity to flow through pen and paper or through getting my mind away from internet-land and my body moving. They help me feel more ready to be productive when I do need to sit down in front of the computer and meet deadlines!

I might add some more policies in the future! These days I tend to get out on those photo walks at least once a week, which is vital! I might have to make it a company policy on rainy weeks too….as it feels so good to get out there and take photos even if I resist it at first!

Do you have some non-negotiable self-care built into your week?

Or some ‘company policies’ and I also think we don’t remotely need to have a business to build in these kinds of self-care acts into our week! What things can you do that would build in some self-care into your week? I highly recommend photo walks….even a short one around the block!

March 21, 2013

Why Photo Walks Feel like Self-Care

Yesterday pouring rain broke open to wide open blue skies and I knew this was the moment to put down the computer and work and get outside.

I had a new prompt I wanted to try for the upcoming session of Be Your Own Beloved but I didn’t know exactly where my feet would take me.

That’s the wonder of photo walks for me (and it likely is or could be for you too). I may go to the same place I went the week before but the light will be different, something I never saw before will catch my eye and new flowers will be bursting up from the ground or on the end of branches.

I headed down to the community garden that has become my new favourite spot. It is about a 10 minute walk from home and is on the edge of a park. It is most definitely urban, with trucks zooming by on the street nearby, dogs barking at the SPCA across the street (and lots of cute ones being taken for walks by volunteers) and plenty of folks working on their garden plots. Yet at the same time it is a really lovely patch of nature within the city.

On days like this, photo walks feel like a bit of a luxury, that I can put down my work and follow the lead of the light, but in a way they aren’t a luxury at all. They are a self-care tool I’ve learned along the way.

I remember the days when I first fell in love with photography. I was working night shifts, only getting to sleep in the morning and much of the year having only a few hours of light to experience before the darkness came again and I had to go back to work. It was a lifeline in those days, a way to deeply experience those few hours of light I have and to feel in some way….alive and a part of the world.

I notice if I don’t get out even for a walk around the block every so often I feel it. Yes, it is fun. But is is also self-care, making space to just put one foot in front of the other and go seeking some beauty. For me these walks began as self-care and now that photography is my work, I try to keep the same energy…not having it be about getting a certain shot or result. Actually I usually come home with at least a few photos that I love, often something that I couldn’t have planned out but found from engaging in that sense of wonder of just going out and being witness to the beauty around me.

I definitely find that it isn’t just a self-care took I need on days when it is bright and sunny and I feel energized. It is actually something I need to do on days when I don’t feel like it, as it has a way of shifting the energy, sending me home with a camera full of unexpected energy and beauty captured in my camera. It isn’t just about getting content for blog posts, by any means. It is about:

Engaging with the world around me

Making discoveries

Savouring light

Clearing my head

Moving my body

Slowing down

Being open to the unexpected

Do you find photo walks are self-care too? Or could it be something you could try to create for yourself?