In This Journey Called Life...

Santa Fe NM Beauty Boudoir Photographer-3

...you just never know what to expect, who you will meet or what serendipitous and coincidental situations you will find yourself in, but after my time in New Mexico I can firmly say: I'm all in. Let me briefly start at the beginning. The last year has been filled with blocks and missteps with regards to my photography and I really just did not know how to get over them. I couldn't see them, but I could absolutely *feel* them. I felt heavy, restless and seriously distracted. I found myself being less and less motivated, which really played heavily on my creativity. I can tell you, in my work, creativity is what drives me, fuels me, gets me up in the morning and keeps me awake all night. My brain is flooded by the hour with new ideas, spins on old ideas and the working, re-working and flipping of someone else's idea till it bends and folds into my own creation. Anyway, I was stuck.

Then, an out-of-nowhere reuniting with 2 friends of mine introduced me to the practice of reiki. One of my blasts from the past has spent the last year or so getting certified in reiki and she spoke about her instructor and practitioner so highly I just felt compelled to give it a try. You guys...I'm so glad I did. I "met" Sharna, owner of Seek Spark Shine, over the phone by way of distance reiki sessions that I booked with her. Before you crinkle your nose, yes, you can do reiki over the phone. It's connecting and moving energy and if you're lucky enough to get hooked up with a super talented practitioner, distance reiki is just as beneficial in person or not. Sharna is also an intuitive so she is able to connect with your energy even deeper than most and let me tell you....it's been absolutely amazing. I have never felt more clear and more determined to continue on the path and journey that she has helped me with during our time together. I **highly** recommend her to you. In fact, I have had one friend take me up on my recommendation and I can tell you, she was more than pleased with her session.

So, after my 3rd session with Sharna, I felt like I needed a respite and Sharna was actually the one that recommended it. The minute I knew in my mind that I was on board, I instantly saw cacti, sand and dry weather. I'm not sure why as I haven't really spent much time at all in the midwest or southwest states. But I followed my nose and wound up renting the most adorable little casita in the hills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, NM. I emailed Sharna to tell her, all this time thinking for some reason she lived in San Diego and worked mostly there. I thought she had a satellite office in NM but never considered it beyond a fleeting thought. Once I told her where I was going she immediately responded, "You know I live in Santa Fe, NM, right??" I was FLOORED. I could not believe that out of all the places in the world I chose for my respite, I chose a place 60 minutes from the woman that helped me on this journey in the first place. Holy. Serendipity.

I'm trying so hard to keep this brief so let me just say, I traveled. I rested. I meditated. I yoga-d. I hiked. I took myself out on dates. I wrote. I pondered. Mostly, I just did whatever I wanted to do and did not do anything I did not want to do. I woke up each morning and took about 30 - 45 minutes to drink my cup of coffee and think about what I wanted to do with my day. I meditated for about 30 minutes and then wrote in my journal for another 45 minutes. Made breakfast and got ready for my day. I either did yoga or hiked on the Tramway Trail. So, basically I gave myself about 5 hours every single morning to just....be. I could do that because I made it a point to stay on east coast time. So I was up each morning around 4:30am local time, giving me so much time to myself and so much peace and quiet because I was up at least 2 to 3 hours before the rest of world near me. It was a pure delight.

It was absolutely perfect and I have decided that I will not only do this every year, but every year it will get longer. I had 6 days and it was way too short. No, I did not have any grand epiphanies. No I did not see "the light" and float on air. Yes, I did begin a wonderful practice of taking time for myself and being good to myself. It's not perfect, but it's a journey and I'm so thrilled to have one those right now.

Lastly, Sharna needed some new photos for her business and really how could I resist?? Here she is in all her beautiful glory (I know...I'm posting so many but I couldn't help myself), along with a video that I stumbled through at the conclusion of our shoot, which will help you get to know Sharna so much better. Enjoy!

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