I feel like we just wrapped up the holiday weekend and here we are staring at Friday right in the eyes.  It is crazy how time continues to fly by.  It really does make it difficult to stop and smell the roses and I don’t know about you but I want to be doing more of that.  Labor Day weekend is a big sign to me that fall is at my doorstep and I welcome it this year.  Time to settle into home and appreciate the people who are closest to me.  Life can get all crazy sometimes and my focus pulled in different directions.  I have to ask myself what is more important the people in my home?  The people who make it the place I most love on this earth.

Over the past month I have been faced with some life lessons that presented themselves front and center.  They have reminded me to remember what I have learned over the past 41 years and that is to be better.  I now know that if I know better I had better do better.  Have I perfected it?  Absolutely not, but I work hard doing the best I can.  Over the past 3 years I have grown as a person and in that person I grew a passion for a conversation and change.  Something that fires me up in the morning.  I am grateful for that addition to my life and my family.

I have been thinking a lot lately about this blog and if I should even continue it.  That passion I have seems to take up most of my time.  I worry that my own personal voice is not needed and if I speak publicly it should be solely about the mission of Changing the Face of Beauty.  That is partly the reason for the lack of sharing here on this blog.  The other reason is that I am human and although I don’t have a lot of “free time” I battle with fears.  The fear of saying the wrong thing.  The fear of not being good enough.  You know what I mean right?  Is my photography up to par?  I haven’t picked up my camera in weeks.  Days go by and I don’t grab any images of what is happening in our life.  All because I have a fear of not being present.  Lets not even get into my insecurities about myself personally and how those don’t match up to the perceptions I have for me. HA! The list could go on and on.

I have battled these insecurities my whole life and I know I am not alone.   Some of us just mask our feelings better then others.  A couple years ago I made a decision to stop looking at the broad picture of everything that scares me in life and focus on what I could control.  I can control the type of human I am, sometimes the food I eat and how I care for my family.  I can also control how I make others feel.  Do I slip up and let days get the best of me?  Absolutely.  Do I get frustrated, ummm yes.  But I make conscious decisions every day and one of those decisions is to be kind to others.  I treat others with how I would like to be treated in mind.  There are times that we do not eye to eye but I grant myself and that person grace.  I move forward and encourage them to do the same.  And sometimes that doesn’t always mean we will do that together.

A good friend reminded me of our limited time on this earth, she is right you know.  I am 41 and that means a good portion of my life could be over.  I choose to live.  I choose happiness and because of that I feel better.  I feel like I can over come the fears I wake up and go to bed with!  I feel better in my own skin and I work on my weaknesses.  I remind myself that I matter.  Everyone matters, you know, to their own people.  If we all remember that, things like bulling on the internet or from behind the computer will end.  We will return to respecting each other as human beings.  I hope the next time we all think about being a part of bringing someone else down we stop and think about how important they are to their people.  Maybe we are frustrated with them but if we gave ourself a moment to really think about how we would want to be treated and remember they are human we just might respond with a little more compassion.  I hope to spread love and support others.  I will continue to pull others up and not bring them down.

So with that here is our Labor Day weekend.  It felt good to get that camera out and dust it off.  If felt good to be in my studio with Grace again, something we have not done for along time.  It felt good to just be me.

I sure hope to do more of that this weekend!

 

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Its boot weather! Can you believe it??

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They make us so so happy.

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Neighborhood Lobster Fest 2015

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And have you heard?  Did you see?  The amazing paper dolls “Proud Participating Company” Matilda Jane Clothing is including in their shipments?  The most amazing paper dolls EVER!  We are so proud of them and if you are too, feel free to leave them a message here  They are listening I promise!

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Do you see what I see?  Inclusion at its best!

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You can also catch “Changing the Face of Beauty” tonight on Al Jazeera America at 8pm EST!  We are so so excited about the opportunity to be included in the segment with a top ad firm, one of our “Proud Participating Companies”, an expert researcher and many others!  You will not want to miss it.  To find the station you can search here!

TGIF friends!  Lets be good to each other.

OXOX Katie