3.28.22 // Shooting with Lauren

Shooting with Lauren.
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It was a chilly Thursday morning when I woke up in Squamish at 4:30 am. The darkness outside was thick with a sleepy heaviness as I started to stir. I turned on a playlist, turned on the coffee, and attempted to turn on my brain- taking Scout for a quick walk under the half-moon and gentle morning stars. The world was quiet- I felt calm, excited, and nervous.
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I started my trek to Vancouver around 5:30 am and it was just me and the road. I kept my window cracked, the gentle chill ruffling my hair, calming my nervous red cheeks.
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An hour later I picked up @anodetothewild. We had never met in person, but have spent several months swapping stories, voice notes, and vulnerable truths. And from the moment she opened the car door, a waft of sea air flowed in, it was like slipping into a warm hug from a long-lost friend.
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Our conversation barely brushed the shallow end as we dove headfirst into our journeys and our true selves- the good, the challenging, and the society dubbed "ugly."
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We listened to one another, we resonated, and we nodded as the words that were spoken were often shared feelings towards our vastly different experiences, yet similar understandings.
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A kindred spirit.
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A shared yearning of curiosity for creation, depth, and meaning in the humanity of existence and being.
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The intention of shooting together was storytelling and creative partnership. Lauren has a way of holding space for women to dig into themselves, to show up unedited, to rewrite the broken societal narratives of beauty standards and gendered expectations, to return to the wild.
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And on that Thursday morning, Lauren held a mirror for me to see myself as I am. She held a microphone to the voice of my insecurities on my journey, letting me speak them into existence so I could let them go or start the hard work of befriending them.
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And as the sun rose and gently warmed our bodies and thawed our frozen toes from frolicking in the thick ocean mud, I felt a wave of warmth not from the sun but from the gratitude filling my heart for Lauren, the experience of rewilding, and the unburdening of a past self ready to give way to a new Liz.