I think this will surprise you….

So we were shooting a “sex kitten” type pic… and this was the result..

But actually we weren’t and yet this is the result.

To me this casual picture represents the beauty in the mystery of the unfolding of life.. of how the unexpected can be so magical and fun, and even sexy haha.

Seriously though when we’re present and raw and literally naked, humour and fun and joy and sweetness and laughter can show up.

The backstory to this shot, is that Ulrike, my photographer and now dear friend, were looking to take some raw and dark shots to represent how broken one can be, feel and experience life in addiction. I work with people recovering from trauma and addiction and rock bottom is dark, raw, and incredibly lonely.  In these shots I was mimicking the place I’ve literally been in before, on the floor, broken and terribly terribly alone.

However the villa Urilke was staying in for the shoot had very friendly cats, this one refused to leave the room and wanted to play. If only we had a video of this shoot, it was pretty hilarious as we tried to drag the cat out of the shot and she’d wander back to play. Urilke is actually allergic so I was running around in my underwear trying to catch the cat as it went to make a home on her bed.

The back back story is that Urilke and only met on my last shoot but due to us both being so honest and vulnerable with each other we’ve developed a close, awesome, fun and supportive friendship.

Art mimicking life and all 😉 another interesting story is how much this pic depicts my last relationship, raw, honest and naked, we dove in deep.  It was surprising, we laughed a lot, as a moment of time, or a series of moments in time captured is was beautiful art. But it wasn’t like a photo or artwork, it didn’t last but that doesn’t take away from it’s beauty or magic.

I love these pictures, because, stories aside, they represents how in our raw, vulnerable and naked moments, in our humility, when we get down on the floor and drop expectations, life weaves in beauty, sweetness, mystery and humour.

This is what life in recovery is like. We hit rock bottom, we get real and humble and we get to live life again, from a new perspective, open to new beauty and opportunities.

Thank you angel Ulrike for taking these pictures. Thank you to my incredible clients that allow me to really see them and for the privilege to be a part of their journeys.  And thank you to my amazing friends for creating the safe space for me to always show up raw, honest and real and for loving me not despite this, but for this.

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