A Letter to a Hurting World
This year I decided that I would set some intentional goals for my business and personal life. No mind-blowing concept – we all do that at the beginning of a new year. On my list was the following:
# 1- Get Consistent with Blogging
Once upon a time I spent a significant amount of my time blogging every thought, every photoshoot, every wedding and I was really good at it. I was able to quickly scale my part time business into a full time one while having very young toddlers at home. This was the lifeblood to my business. So, what happened? Why’d I stop?
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Social. Media.
To be honest it was primarily Instagram.
Instagram pulled away from posting images and quick small captions to being a hub of creators going live, showing their faces, talking directly to their audience and if you were only showing up on a blog with no direct presence or video format — you were falling behind as a creative business owner.
I began to show up on IG far more often than anywhere else and this led to me pulling back on blogging every single thought and photo and moment and really only remembering to blog every few sessions or weddings… eventually I just stopped all together. With the exception of one off posts that were created through Pic-Time or that one time I hired a social media manager for a few months- I haven’t consistently posted my work on my blog in several years.
Thus, my goal this year was to get back to writing and back to the heart of what I do- telling people’s stories and connecting in an authentic way that makes you really stop and feel. (That’s the goal at least)
So why is this titled A Letter to a Hurting World?
Because how can I start my year off with the goal of reconnecting to my audience by sharing my heart and telling people’s stories of genuine connection if I don’t first acknowledge what’s happening in our country and in our world right now? I want to set expectations and let readers know who they’re getting when they come to my platforms or hire me to document their memories.
So here we go, My Letter to a Hurting World:
You woke up this morning. You rolled over, reached out for your phone and you opened up TikTok. “We have some major news right now” starts Aaron Parnas. You wait- holding your breath for what is sure to be another weight thrown into the world. Will it be another tragic homicide carried out by a more and more hostile militant group? Will it be another city being taken over by ICE? Will the President have woken up to choose to make another insensitive AI video or has he bombed another country over night? Will it be an update to the censorship on media? Will it be all of these things in back to back videos that will flood your feed and your thoughts for the rest of the day? Likely the latter.
You close TikTok after consuming too much and hitting reshare too many times. You know it’s important to get the news out but you also want to make sure you protect at least a fraction of your mental health. You feel guilty for exercising the privilege to look away even for a moment.
You remember the kids have school, the dogs need to be fed, the dishes need to be washed and the laundry needs to be hung up. You start the chores and get the kids to school and then you venture out for coffee or to go to work or to the gym. You start your mundane day in the most mundane way. Maybe you’re like me and you turn on an audio book and zone out the world at another thrift store just to feel a sense of calm in your mind.
Eventually you get back home, the kids homework needs doing and dinner needs to be cooked and basketball practice is at 7. You keep doing the mundane despite knowing the world is on fire and you feel like there’s nothing you can do to stop it.You read another article on the latest shooting. You see the streets being filled with protestors. You see the people rising up and getting loud and protecting their neighbors and risking their lives to be on the streets doing something to make an impact. You also see your family members, friends, church goers, make statements like “If Minneapolis would all get jobs then we wouldn’t have this issue in the first place.” They repeat the rhetoric being distributed by Fox News, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, DJT himself. They raised you to be kind, to do good, to love your neighbor as yourself and you’re so confused and heartbroken that they are missing the mark and missing it so badly. They seem so blinded by their Rightness that it feels like they cannot see when something has gone too far. You don’t understand how they can’t see what you see. You compartmentalize and get back into the mundane.
You finish dinner, basketball is over, showers are had and bedtime is here. The kids get tucked in, the dogs get let out, you climb into bed with your partner and you try to decompress. You turn on a comfort show, chat a bit about the day and grab your phones and start scrolling. “This just in, we have breaking news” says Aaron Parnas as he updates you on more that’s happened during your very mundane day. You listen and watch and you feel the heaviness of the world deepen as you question what the future will look like for your children. What action you can take to help. What tomorrow’s breaking news will be. You consider this all as you let the melatonin sink in and you drift off to another night of broken sleep.
The World is heavy right now. Your feelings of helplessness are valid but you are not alone. There are people rising. There is truth coming to light. There are sleepers waking up and saying “oh- we were wrong”. There are productive conversations being had and bridges being created. New paths being formed where there was dense overgrowth of misunderstanding.
The world is on fire. But you are able to do your part to carry the torch.
Even in the mundane. Even if you have to close the app for a few hours to find regulation.
Your words matter now more than ever.
Speak up- not just in reshares and social posts- but by going directly to your loved ones and allowing your conversations to be uncomfortable with the goal of finding perspective and bringing healing and understanding.
Go to your neighbors and spend time with them getting to know them and letting them get to know you. If they believe different than you or look different than you, even better.
Go to your local food banks and drop off what you can or volunteer what time you have.
Call your local congressman and express your thoughts and lobby them to work FOR your state and not against it.
Stand up when you should. Speak out against what’s wrong.
Ask your church and community leaders to voice their thoughts and not remain silent on the important events occurring.
and while doing it all- do it with decency. empathy. respect.
Most importantly remember that the goal of our current residing government is to exhaust us. They want to make us too tired to fight & too tired to care. They want us to say “Oh I just can’t do politics anymore” because then they win and get away with what they’re doing without a large enough uproar to stop them.
The world is on fire but we carry the torches.
We can light up the darkness with good.
Keep going and know you’re not alone and your voice is enough.
So there you have it.
My heart. My daily experience. My letter to a hurting world. My hope for the future.
If you enjoyed it, follow along. I will be sharing my client’s stories but I will also be sharing more of my world view too. Hope you’re coming along for the ride. 🤍
