A few months ago, I was sitting in a room amid downtown Tacoma, Washington.  A group of absolutely amazing women sat in rows on wooden fold out chairs.  With all of their eyes looking intently upon me…I uttered four words that surprised even myself…

“Art saved my life”

I can remember being taken aback as they lingered in the air between us.  They weren’t part of what I had planned on saying.  But I also meant it.  Very much.

Eight years ago, I picked up a camera, with zero expectations of where that moment would go.  As it turned out, not only did that moment take me somewhere…but it took me everywhere .  Most of all, it took to a part of myself that I didn’t even know existed.  Photography brought me to freedom.  Words brought me to life.  Storytelling brought me to you.

All of you.

And looking back on it all sometimes shakes me sometimes.  It makes me unsettled knowing how much a single moment…a single decision…a single desire…can change everything.

I was thinking about all of this as I waited for Lauren and Chris to arrive for their engagement session.  I’ll be shooting their wedding in the Fall and I was remembering what it was like in those earlier days; the nerves, the excitement, the disbelief that came with living this new life.

They pulled up in their new car and as they stepped out, they had that same look on their face.  They had their own set of nerves, excitement, and disbelief that came with this stage of their life.

And here’s what I’ve come to know about those feelings…

They mean that you are walking a road that is paved with possibility.  They mean the start of something immensely beautiful.  They mean that moment was given to you for a reason.

They mean that you are exactly where you should be…