Rebirth

There comes a time in your life, when you have to just trust. You are a being, worthy of all the goodness this world has to bestow on you. Look forward as you gently let go of your past and be reborn anew.

Challenges are not a thing that I am drawn to. I see so many people joining in creative challenges that seem cool. Part of me wants to join, the other part of me doesn’t really want to commit. But I am committing to this one because I am making myself commit. I want to see this project finished. A few months ago, Brooke Shaden posted about a 15 Day Challenge where part of the donations went to The Light Space. She was offering a lot of content with it and I decided, “Why not?”. Anytime someone has something to offer that will help you get better and you can afford it (or it is free!) you should take full advantage of it. So here is Day 1: Rebirth.

Rebirth. What an appropriate image to create in this new chapter of my life. I didn’t read the challenges before hand, I just filed them away in a folder in my e-mail for later. It seemed appropriate to begin this photo challenge now that I have more time on my hands pursuing art full-time. I opened the e-mail and thought about the questions that Brooke proposed: What visuals come to mind with rebirth? What does it mean to you to be born again?

These are very interesting questions to ponder. Rebirth can mean any number of things to each person. Had I not been going on vacation, this image could very well have looked completely different. However, I believe that everything happens for a reason. In this image, Rebirth, the old me (dressed in black – symbolic of death) is being washed away by the ocean and new me (dressed in white – symbolic of purity to me) has emerged from the ocean. Water can also be a symbol of cleansing and purity so using the ocean seemed very appropriate in this image. There are 3 small birds in the frame (references to past, present and future that I like to hide in many of my images). Birds also symbolize freedom which is how I currently feel about transitioning into this new chapter of my life. The left side of the image is darker and stormier, which is the “me” that is being washed away. On the right side, I tried to make it brighter and surround the new “me” with more light. I am also a very dramatic person so I chose to use the image with the huge wave splash for the “me” that is being washed away.

I believe that in our lifetime, we will choose to be “reborn” multiple times. As new beginnings enter our lives, we must let go of our old-selves in order to embrace new chapters. Our lives are ever evolving and growing. We bring forth with us the knowledge of lessons past. For example, in this new chapter of mine – which feels like Rebirth more than a new chapter or perhaps it is more of a new book – I dread being self-employed again. Why? Because I have been down this road before and I FAILED MISERABLY. This is where the drama comes in. I did fail but perhaps not “miserably”. But in my eyes I failed pretty miserably haha. I was a wedding and portrait photographer for many years. I loved it but something was missing. I believe that I found that “something” in my last place of employment. One of the many lessons that I took away is that I can fully commit to something. It became clear to me that I had developed a completely new set of habits which I could take with me so that I would not make the same mistakes again. I took time to plan, journal and contemplate. Additionally, it was also important to play and experiment with art during the past year. I needed to know that it wasn’t “just a phase” or something that I wanted to do because I was somehow bored. No. It was the true me begging to come out. My creative soul had been so far buried and ignored after college that I never thought it would ever emerge again. I thought I was “done” being an artist – never done being creative or loving photography but I was pretty sure that I was done creating from the heart and just because. But I was wrong.

Can you recall a moment of your life where you were reborn?

Comment below.

Here are some of my favorite behind the scenes moments. It is incredibly hard to lay in the ocean with a bedsheet. I kept getting washed away (quite literally but it was unglamorous).