Day One Friends of Wednesday’s Child “Creating Confidence” Workshop

Today was Day One of the “Creating Confidence” Workshop for Friends of Wednesday’s Child.  Friends of Wednesday’s Child brings hope and healing to children in foster care so they can overcome pasts of abuse and neglect and claim futures as confident, independent members of the community.  I was asked to speak to the girls about photography.  I left from the experience feeling uplifted and energized.  (This is how you KNOW you are fulfilling your life’s purpose.

  The mission, for me, was to tell the girls why I got into photography in the first place.  If you have not heard the story, let me tell you the short version:

  As a teenager, I was rebellious and out of control.  I developed some very negative survival skills to help deal with my chaotic family situation.  I began drinking to cope with the lack of control in my home.  I moved out at the age of 16 thinking I would be an “adult.”  Instead, I spent my entire twenties in a world of drugs and alcohol.  I did what I wanted to do WHEN I wanted to do it.  I was constantly in and out of institutions and treatment centers, nothing seemed to help.  Until the day my friend gave me a camera.  It changed everything!! I found something that gave me passion and purpose….. and my life has never been the same.  (Much more to it than that, but as I said, that is the short version.)

So I shared the story with the girls and gave each and every one of them “permission to create”, as my friend did 6 years ago.  Here are little tidbits of the day.  I can not show the girl’s faces for obvious reasons.

I gave the girl’s 3 challenges.  1.  I want an image that tells me something about YOU.  2.  I want a picture of someone else, you must DIRECT the other person.  3.  I want you to show me something in a different way, i.e. angle.

I taught the girls to look for light.  And to see it everywhere.

Here’s a funny image of all the volunteers trying to get our picture.

I was also blessed to run into my friend, Ms. Julia Schloss….what a pleasant surprise.  Her workshop was on sewing, I’m so jealous…I’ve always wanted to sew.

Her friend had this AMAZING vintage sewing machine.  I couldn’t believe that it was still operational.

I can’t wait to see what the girls got.