As moms, women, daughters, business leaders, we’re pretty good at celebrating everyone else. Imam guilty of this too. But I am here to tell you that You Don’t Need a Reason to Celebrate Yourself. Do it for You, because you deserve to be celebrated too.
I was thinking about this the other day.
Why do we always feel like we need a reason to celebrate ourselves?
We celebrate birthdays. We celebrate anniversaries. We celebrate promotions, new businesses, graduations, weddings, babies, and all of the big moments in life.
And of course, those moments deserve to be celebrated.
But what about the woman who is simply living her life?
The woman who has spent years taking care of everyone else.
The woman who has built a career, raised a family, started over, changed direction, overcome things she doesn’t always talk about, or simply made it through a particularly challenging season.
Does she need a reason?
I don’t think she does.
I see this all the time in my studio.
A woman will come in for a portrait session and, almost immediately, she’ll start telling me all the things she doesn’t like about herself.
“My arms…”
“I don’t photograph well.”
“I’ve gained weight.”
“I don’t know what to do in front of the camera.”
“I haven’t had a professional picture taken in years.”
And I understand it.
Most of us are much harder on ourselves than we are on anyone else.
This is absolutely normal. But after hair and makeup, a little direction, the right outfit, and some time in front of the camera, something usually starts to change.
She relaxes.
She starts having fun.
She catches a glimpse of herself on the back of the camera.
And I’ll hear:
“Oh my gosh… is that me?”
Yes.
It is.
That’s you.
The part of you that maybe hasn’t gotten much attention lately.
The confident part.
The playful part.
The beautiful part.
The woman who got a little lost somewhere between taking care of everyone else and taking care of herself.
That’s one of the reasons I love what I do.
Yes, I love creating beautiful portraits.
I love the lighting, the wardrobe, the posing, the details, and seeing everything come together.
But what really gets me is watching a woman see herself differently.
Because your portrait session isn’t really about having a good reason to get photographs taken.
It’s about giving yourself permission to have a moment that is just for you.
Maybe you’re celebrating 50.
Maybe you’re starting a new business.
Maybe you’re entering a completely new chapter.
Or maybe you’re looking around at your life and thinking, “You know what? I think it’s time I did something for me.”
That’s enough.
You don’t have to wait for a milestone.
You don’t have to wait until you look different.
You don’t have to become some future version of yourself before you deserve to be photographed.
This woman—right now—is worth photographing.
Because this is the chapter you’re actually living.
And I promise you, someday you’ll look back at these photographs differently than you do today.
You’ll remember where you were.
You’ll remember who you were.
You’ll remember the woman you were becoming.
And you’ll be so glad you took the time to celebrate her.
So if you’ve been waiting for a reason to have the portraits you’ve always wanted…
Maybe you don’t need one.
Maybe you are the reason.
And I think that’s a pretty good reason to celebrate.
— Allie
