What if getting older isn't about all the time that has passed, but more about how much life we've been given?
This week, I turned 44, and it got me thinking about the people I love, those I have lost, the things I’ve learned, and all the ways we celebrate being alive. As human beings, I think we are pretty darn good at celebrating the big milestones- those big calendar items like weddings, new babies, graduations, birthdays, and the new job. And as a photographer, this is typically when I get a call.
But the reality is, most of life happens somewhere in between those milestones. So, how do we celebrate the things that don't necessarily come with a cake and ceremony? How do we honor all the little unexpected joys that make up a life well lived?
-Starting over.
-Making time to hang out with that one friend you haven't seen in years, but you can both pick up like no time ever passed.
-A second chance.
-Saying yes to something new.
-Watching your child turn into an incredible adult. (That definitely didn't happen in our house last week without shedding a few tears!)
-Finding your confidence again.
-Having the courage to walk away.
-A completely ordinary Tuesday that, for some reason, you wish you could go back to over and over again.
Maybe in the end, these are the moments that matter most.
The ones that slip quietly into our days.
The little things that, when you look back, turn out to have been the big things all along.
And that's something worth celebrating every.single.day.
So I want to spend the next year searching out the joy, the resilience, the connection, the ordinary moments that turned out to be extraordinary, and I want to meet the people who remind us that life, in all of its messy and beautiful forms, is worth celebrating. Here. Now. Especially now.
Enter project 44 FRAMES.
A black-and-white gallery exhibition of 44 stories from people of all ages and all lived experiences.
44 reasons to celebrate being alive.
Maybe you have a story.
Maybe someone you love does.
And I’m going looking for them. Proof that a life is made beautiful by the moments we choose to notice. Not perfect or polished, but real.
I have a feeling those moments are going to remind me (and maybe all of us) of something we already know deep down…
There is still so much good to see here.
So what are you celebrating? And are you in?
+A huge shout-out and sincere thank you to the incredible @jonnycreative who took this portrait of me and let me fall apart in his studio because of the beautiful safe space he held for me as a witness to my story. I am eternally grateful you are a part of my journey!