Our Family Photos: By Brea

My best friend recently texted to check in on me and I answered, “I feel like I’m living one big heartbreak.”

Pretty dramatic, Right?

I realized that’s basically what life is, though. We are here to be gutted.

And damn, do these photos GUT ME.

My very very talented friend Brea has been taking our family’s photos for 4 years (check out her blog where she links all of our previous sessions HERE) and I wrote a Long post on instagram about how I knew this year’s photos would be my favorites before she even arrived. (Read that HERE). Simply put: You love your photos based on how much you love yourself. Photographer just raises a giant mirror to You. If you don’t love your life, you won’t love the photos. Period.

Good news: I really friggin love my life.

Now, that’s not to say I love every moment of every day. Please don’t let words typed onto a screen in a moment of “Things are good, overall” pull the Wool over your eyes. Life is life, and Life is never easy.

It isn’t meant to be.

Meaning comes from experience. It comes from struggle. And we aren’t here to have happy smiling photos all the time.

Ironically enough, when you make peace with the fact that the purpose of life is not happiness, but rather experience and growth, happiness comes as a natural byproduct. When you are not seeking it as the objective, it will find its way to you.

-author unknown

-> this quote is written on a whiteboard that is propped atop my son’s preschool cubby. I look at it every single day I drop him off.

My favorite thing about doing all the deep, inner work that the last 2 years have required are that I feel as though I’m living with my eyes wide open. To myself. to This family. To all the energy of the world.

And now, I get to pass the lessons I’ve learned onto this sweet boys, who have not yet been tainted by the pressures of the world and exist fully in a space of great expanse.

I love knowing that now i do not only get to witness that, but I also get to participate in it.

An excerpt from Brea’s Blog Post:

WHEN I ARRIVED THIS YEAR…

I was greeted by Juliana in the driveway – and she told me that she and Colin were inside and saw Johnny wandering around outside through the window… He was trying to problem solve. And then he found a bungee cord, and used it to connect the Jeep car and the Batmobile – so all three brothers could ride around together. I think this specific moment speaks volumes about how they are raising their kids. They are thoughtful, creative, brilliant children, who deeply love each other and their family. The boys are not just brothers, but best friends. And rather than arguing over who got a turn, Johnny used his creativity to find a way for them to all be included.

Of all of our years together, this was my favorite. And I can’t wait to see what next year brings. Juliana and Colin, I love you both, and I love the world you’ve created. Thank you, always, for letting me in.

All Photographs Taken by Life By Brea, May 2022.