FRIENDSHIP

 
 

Well the first few days of school are done. Our summer was crazy. We managed to get quite a few of our summer list items checked off and made some good memories. The one thing that was missing from my summer was my friends. We all got so busy that we didn't do a great job of carving out time for us in the middle of the rush and travel of the summer.

There were so many posts all summer about friendship day and articles circulating about how important girls weekends are to our mental well being. And as I struggled through a lot of our summer I can agree I'm a stronger wife, mother, volunteer, photographer, person and friend with my friends walking with me.

As my days as a social planner and tutor and quick order cook and enforcer of chores shifts to a taxi cab driver, homework reminder, confidant and reminder to brush your teeth and get out the door on time, I find myself with more time during the day to reconnect with my friends.

My friendships are crucial to my life balance and quality of life. They ground me as I share about school woes, and doctors, and work and marriage and finding the balance with activities. The talking helps and having an empathetic ear and sometimes a shoulder to cry on and often someone to play it back to me to give me a fresh perspective and sometimes even much needed advice.

As my kids are growing up, we need to put these relationships first as our opportunities to sit on sidelines with the same mamas shifts. We need to make the effort to reach out, make the phone call, schedule the coffee or lunch.

As an artist, these dates are even more important to recharge my creativity and give me insights in relationships to help me create stronger portraits for my clients. Often we take trips to museums or new spaces in town or take a drive to the country. Sometimes it's just sitting in a familiar space and stopping the wheel for an hour to just be me with someone that lets me be authentically me.

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This year we are going to be launching friend sessions for our senior clients during the spring when we should be celebrating friendships. We will be doing these 2-3 times this year in different environments to reflect your friendships. Moms and daughters, dads and sons, besties forever, the cool dudes, the brothers by another mother- we've got your back! Give us an opportunity to capture your friendships that have helped form you before you launch into the next chapter of your life. Come and just be you together and let's get some good photos to capture those bonds.

I'm super excited about this year! And about my friends that will be growing with me and the new friends that I have yet to make. Maybe I'll start working at Starbucks once a week to give myself an opportunity to make new friends or just be available for current ones. We shall see, but I do realize that my friendships make my quality of life better so I'm prioritizing that time this year.

Jess