a dress + a poem

a dress

Sometimes fashion speaks louder than words.

My photographer friend Kimberly and I wanted to play dress up for a photoshoot. Just for fun. We borrowed our good friend’s Christina’s fabulous (and I really mean fabulous) clothing. We found an abandoned warehouse in San Francisco. It required trespassing. And yes, I know that’s wrong. For many reasons. But without any expectations, and instead with a strong sense of gratitude to those who came before us and thus who made it possible to bring this pink dress to this abandoned warehouse, we birthed a story. A story we’re still writing. But a good picture-book story with a fairytale beginning and a dark and twisted middle and an ending that is still unwritten. Because there’s really no such thing as “finished”. More photos and more of the “story” to come, but for now I leave you with this:

+ a poem

Sometimes a poem says it all.

For Valentine’s Day this year I had one of my Collectives (my ongoing online groups of 5 people) write poetry. I assigned each member in the group another person to write a poem about as a "Valentine". (We’ve been meeting in CIRCLE every other week for over a year so we have grown to know each other quite well. Not only do we have content about one another at this point, but we also have built up the vulnerability muscle to share our creative endeavors.)

Our Collective member Syd had me. This is what she wrote (and she lovingly gave me permission to share it with all of you):

I often get asked to describe what I do for a living. I honestly have trouble explaining it sometimes. But this poem says it all. Is “growing love” a legit occupation? I certainly hope so, because it’s what I’ve chosen to do with my life. Thank you Syd for capturing it so well. I am honored to be sitting beside you and each and every one of my Collective members.

a dress + a poem. And other people. Always other people. Sometimes (maybe every time?) it’s all we need.