Someone, somewhere along the way made you feel like you weren't enough. Maybe it was more than one person. Maybe it was you telling yourself that you don't stack up to some invisible idea of what "enough" is. We've all been through it. We've all had something happen that made us feel like the odds were stacked against us. Some of us have had multiple incidents that we thought proved our belief that we weren't good enough. Or pretty enough. Or smart enough. Or whatever enough.
It's not easy to break the cycle of believing that. Once that garbage is in your mind it's easier to look around and find proof everywhere, sometimes even in insignificant things, that they were right. That you don't belong. That maybe even there is something wrong with you. I struggle with self doubt every day. I think, as women, it's almost in our DNA to believe we aren't enough in some way or another.
Every single client I've had in my studio has struggled with some form of self doubt. That photo you saw that made you say "she's pretty enough to be a model!" - yes, she has struggled. She didn't come into my studio thinking she could bare it all and she was beautiful no matter what pose we did or which outfit she wore. It took courage for her to put on that outfit and get in front of my camera. It took a lot of guts for her to trust that I would coach her into a pose that would be flattering. And she faced those fears and stared into my camera lens and allowed herself to find her strength and see her beauty. And for a lot of my clients, this changes their lives. Finding the courage to step out of your comfort zone, and take a step back to look at a photo of yourself with all that strength on display, to see yourself as a beautiful piece of art, and to know you were able to do something this big... yeah. It was always in there. You just needed to trust yourself enough to let it out. And now you know how to find it again when you need it.
I always say I am a collector of stories. I love hearing your stories, and I mean that. I feel so honored every single time a client comes in and shares a part of her life with me. I have felt connected to all of my clients in some way and I carry all of my client's stories with me. I've had sessions that have almost been therapy for both myself and my client. I've had sessions where we talked about life and circumstances and how to navigate it all. I'm no expert at life but after hearing so many stories I can tell you we are all the same. We've all been hurt. We've all had someone, somewhere along the way make us feel like we weren't enough. We've all had failures. BUT, we've all survived. We've all lived to tell our stories. We've all had our wins and our triumphs. We've found a way to get through and survive and maybe even learn a little something to pass along to someone else.
You are enough. Right now. Whatever you're going through, whatever you've been told, whoever has hurt you. Just know that the sun will rise again tomorrow. And as long as we try, every day, to learn and grow and do better we will be ok. If you fall down today, you can try again tomorrow.
I'll be here - rooting for you. Encouraging you. Reminding you that "you're not enough" is a lie. You ARE enough, and someday I hope you'll know it's true too.
