Forced to Mellow | New Orleans Vacation
If you are like me and are into Universe confirmations and what not, keep reading! This was the most in-your-face universe speaking to me I have ever experienced while also learning about myself and getting a total reset.
A few weeks leading up to my 6 day trip, which I might add wasn’t long enough, I had planned exactly 4 photoshoots with models. One canceled and I rebooked another for the same day, but that was also canceled the day before the shoot, on my arrival date to New Orleans. And that was just the first day, with the same shoot being canceled twice, the next one soon followed suit with one of the models getting a flu. Then the last who was in a minor car accident, her being healthy with no injuries thank goodness. When the last one was canceled it was impossible to ignore the very obvious signs that I was not supposed to work on this trip.
Heres the thing, I had big hopes and dreams to have this amazing portfolio of people in the quarter, in the garden district and park to display and use to book clients with. This way I could come to New Orleans more often. I had already thought this out and knew exactly what I wanted and usually don’t do well not getting what I want. But, I’ve done some growing up.
One morning, feeling a wii bit defeated, I stopped in on a cafe in the garden district. I walked in, bought myself a latte, sat down and just watched. I watched the people come inside and out, order their drinks. The young professionals working on their laptops, some conversing with friends. Then I noticed the original windows of the the building, it was actually a home originally, turned coffee shop. I saw the string lights hanging down from the ceiling at different lengths. The light reflecting on a wall from the light shinning in outside. I was calm, I didn’t have anywhere to be, anything to do, I was just there, in the moment.
I am learning to let things go, always trying to remember that if what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me. That mantra really grounds me and quite honestly made this trip as enjoyable as it was. Because if not, and I tried to continue to book more shoots, and lets face it could go two ways, 1. I’d be rushed and not organized because of putting together last second shoots and/or 2. I wouldn’t be able to stop and relax this trip, but instead be constantly model searching, photographing on a whim and editing it all on the little downtime I would have left.
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and the answer may be bigger than us, or as simple as ‘stop and relax’ . But I do believe there is a reason, whether we initially agree with it or not. Because we don’t always know what we need, we may know what we want, but our needs are often left ignored. Maybe because of obligations, the need to always feel productive, or we just never learned to chill the fuck out.
That was my lesson learned. The trip was amazing by the way, I was filled with so much joy getting back to my roots in photography and street shooting again. It was a forced action upon me that I am grateful for and will cherish. Every where I walked, every corner I turned, the loosened schedule really centered me, calmed me and just filled my tank with so much joy. So here are some I’d like to share. If you love any of them, please feel free to pin on Pinterest of share on social media. I love my art and would love more people to see it!
