We are thrilled to have Mallory Kasdan, Brooklyn mom and author of the popular (and hilarious!) children's book Ella, join us today as a Portraits that Move guest blogger.
Mallory's post, which first appeared on her blog, shows how our children teach us curiosity, joy, gratitude and friendship every day, just by being who they are.
Read MoreWe recently returned from a lovely two week vacation with my parents. It was incredible. We had amazing weather, the idyllic setting of Cape Cod, delicious food and many of the summer adventures and activities that one thinks of when they imagine a summer vacation filled our weeks.
The best part of all, though, was spending that time with my parents. My family lives in Philadelphia and we see them frequently. Typically, though, it is just for a day here or a couple days there. This summer, we had the gift of more than two weeks.
My son and my parents have always been close, and I am so deeply grateful that we had this extended time together. It is in the small moments of this type of time and space that the most important memories are made. My son did enjoy the miniature golf games, ice cream and sailing adventures, but if you asked him about the highlights of his vacation, he would cite reading next to my father, making ice cream with my mom and playing catch in the pond with me.
And with these actions comes a deeper knowing, a relaxation, an ease and a closeness. It is also with this time and its ordinary conversations that the deeper reveals happen.
My parents spoke to my son about their childhoods and mine. They imparted quiet lessons to him and most of all they just enjoyed each other and loved each other.
Frank Bruni wrote an op-ed piece about this in the New York Times and he took the words out of my mouth.
While on this multigenerational vacation, I realized again how grateful I am for the technology we have and for our ability to document moments like these.
When my son grows up and thinks about this summer, we will have photos and videos to share, along with our memories. They are gifts that will keep on giving, they give my son and I the ability to return to the wisdom, the closeness and the love of his grandparents.
"Working with your team was so easy! You were able to give our story a true voice and share the innocence and bravery of our daughter Edie with everyone. Emily and I will forever cherish this video."
- Nick, Edie's dad
Portraits that Heal gives voice to children that suffer from illness and other challenges and the non-profits that serve them by creating documentary portrait videos that empower children to share their stories in their own words.
This week marks the beginning of a new school year in New York and with it comes much excitement. I know my son will be thrilled to reunite with his friends, many of whom have been away most of the summer. It is a time of new beginnings, new teachers, new school supplies, new sneakers. There is a rush, some anticipation, a jolt of energy that comes with the back to school season.
And it is not only this way for the kids. As parents, we get excited for the year of learning ahead. We welcome the routines and we are on the edge of our seats, hoping the transition will go smoothly and be full of ease for everyone involved.
Most of all, we cannot believe the time has flown by - they are starting kindergarten, third grade, high school. How could it be possible? They need to feel both our confidence and our questions. In feeling both, we stay connected to them, united, and close.
It is important to create space to welcome all of the elements of the back to school transition - the fun parts and the challenges. Getting older is hard for everyone and we need to let our children know that all of their feelings make sense, that we, in fact, have and have had the same sorts of feelings.
There is an opportunity here for parents to let our children know that the spectrum of our feelings is healthy. We can feel confident and have excitement. We can trust, yet wonder.
We are in it together with them and even though we are not the ones starting school, the renewal is so for all of us.
When summer vacation time comes around there can be a sense of pressure to create an idyllic experience. When we think of summer getaways, we think of dining alfresco, swimming, long evenings, tons of play time, summer reading and many opportunities to soak up the delicious summer sun.
For many parents, this can feel a bit intense and it can be difficult to disconnect and relax. I find that once I have arrive at my vacation destination, it takes me several days to feel relaxed. My body organically has two modes, off and on and the in-between, is hard to come by, even when I am on vacation.
This year, I decided to push myself to disconnect. While admittedly, I had trouble refraining from social media, I did ignore my email (for the most part) and chose to focus on only things that brought me pleasure and joy.
The result was incredible - my vacation has been filled with fun, laughs and closeness. Here are some tips for creating a vacation that is worth remembering:
Vacations are about time. Time to just be together, to enjoy, to make memories and to be present. Savor the time and celebrate the memories you make.
I recently did some work filming at a Ronald McDonald House in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Ronald McDonald Organization is a national charity that provides housing for families when their children are having extended stays in the hospital.
At each location they offer housing, a kitchen, and other support services for families to make the challenges of their situation a bit easier.
Their mission is to keep families together, as they believe that in doing so, there is healing for everyone involved in dealing with childhood illness.
As I spoke to some of the families, my perspective shifted. It is easy to take things for granted when our children are healthy and our families are home. The families I filmed are grateful for having a meal cooked for them, access to wi-fi, a bedroom that feels personal, and smiles from people who are familiar when they are far from home.
Listening to these families, I saw that their gratitude was deep, overwhelming and intense. It created opening and closeness.
Talking to Kids about Gratitude
I try to use gratitude in my home as a regular on-going conversation with my son. When we focus on gratitude, it can create good feeling and closeness. Sometimes I will ask my son during dinner what happened in his day that made him feel grateful.
Other times as I am tucking him into bed, I will tell him the 5 things about my day that I am grateful for and ask him about his.
There are a lot of other ways to introduce gratitude into a conversation, to make it into a game and to keep it present. I find that talking about what we are grateful for shifts things. It makes the mood more positive, lighter and gentler.
Daily Awareness of Gratitude
In that spirit, today I am grateful for
Sharing What We Are Thankful For
What are you grateful for?
How does gratitude open a conversation in your family?
Once people see our family documentary portrait work and decide that they would like our team to create a video for them, the first step is to set up a call to talk about the process.
We Learn About You, From You
On that initial call our team gathers basic information about the family and their interests. How many children are in the family? What Portraits that Move product is the best fit right now (a full Portrait, a Snapshot, a Vacation Experience Package)?
Is the family asking us to create their documentary to honor a special occasion or event? Will the video be used as part of a celebration or treasured at home together? Once we know these details, we talk about scheduling a date to shoot the documentary with the family.
About a week before the shoot, I, or someone from the team calls the family to learn a bit more about the children and to plan and customize the shoot for them. We ask about the children’s personalities and preferences. What do they like to do? What is a typical day like for them? Do siblings typically do things together or independently? Are there things the parents would like highlighted or not?
Planning a Family Documentary Shoot with Your Comfort in Mind
Also, during this second call we discuss a plan for the shoot day. We talk about arrival times, length of the shoot and general order of the day so everyone is comfortable and well prepared. Like any film shoot day, we go in with a plan and we are prepared to make changes as appropriate.
I love our documentary planning calls. They are a fun way to get to know my clients, to create a comfort level for them about the process and to create a plan to best document their children. It is important to me that our clients feel our love and acceptance at every step of the process, in the initial conversations, while we are shooting and revealed in the final product.
We have great gratitude to be able to do this work - everything we can do to make the filming process easy and positive is incredibly important.
Contact us to schedule a call to discuss the documentary filming process for your family.
I recently read a new book, written by the extraordinary producer, Brian Grazer, entitled A CURIOUS MIND, THE SECRET TO A BIGGER LIFE. Brian is an incredibly successful producer and the force behind such projects as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and most recently, the hit television show, Empire. He owns his company, Imagine Entertainment with director Ron Howard.
Brian Grazer Photo: IMDB
I have followed Brian’s career for a long time because, as a film producer I am always fascinated by what makes another producer successful. What propels him or her forward? How do they work best? How do they identify projects and decide to create them or not? Brian is known in the industry to be hard working, affable and extremely fun to work with.
And now, after reading his book, I understand why.
Photo: Amazon
In A Curious Mind, Brian makes the point that it is the trait of curiosity that creates more success, bigger wins and closer relationships. He offers that the act of asking questions at every juncture brings us closer to our own truths and to those that we are close to. I couldn’t agree more.
In fact, I think I was drawn to this book because I innately understood that curiosity is the thing that keeps us young - and relatable to our children. Curiosity opens doors in our communication with our kids. When our children are asking us why a million times (while it can sometimes be annoying) it is an opportunity to get to the bottom of what they are trying to understand. And to, in turn, understand them.
What are they curious about? What moves them? How does their line of thinking work?
It is clear that asking questions of others sets the stage for more truths. It shows that we are interested, engaged and present; all things that our children need us to be. In honor of Brian Grazer and his book, I offer up a challenge to you. Can you come up with 5 things that you are curious about your children?
Ask them, go deeper, get closer. And tell us about it!
Here are a few curiosities of mine, conversation starters that we use at Portraits that Move when filming documentaries for families. Use these as jumping off points, and keep your kids talking. You - and they - will benefit from it greatly.
How does it feel for you when you sing?
Do you like the beach or the forest better and why?
What is your favorite summer frozen treat? What do you like about it?
What is your deepest wish?
Curiosity is a core value at Portraits That Move. One that keeps us working hard to meet more kids, to understand them, who they are and all the reasons we celebrate them.
The end of the school year came fast and furiously last month and in New York, the kids were in school until almost July so we are still easing into the reality of summer. June is always an intense month filled with endings and beginnings. It marks the ending of a grade, of a school year, of a class and the beginning of the carefree, fun days of summer.
My son, on his last day of school in June
Like most parental rights of passage, I found this time this year very bittersweet. I was incredibly excited for my son that he was finishing his school year and that it had been a good one for him. I share his excitement for all things summer: fireworks, ice cream, traveling, beaches, swimming, late playdates, s’mores (he really loves those!) and summer reading. Yet all the while, I also felt a bit wistful how about fast the time is going by and quickly my son is growing up.
Much like I do when filming kids for Portraits that Move documentaries, I decided to do a quick interview with him, asking about his feelings on summer in the hopes of opening up a conversation about this transition. What I found was that he was present, thinking forward and open. He felt curious, positive and at ease. The conversation with him was brief but joyful.
Q: What do you love most about summer?
A: Traveling to places like Cape Cod and Maine because I like spending time with my family. When I go there I get to see all my cousins.
Q: How does summer feel different from the school year to you?
A: Well, I miss my friends and I don’t like learning as much as learning while you are doing something fun and summer is a way better time to do that because there is no homework.
Q: What will you miss about school?
A: That my friends are there - I miss them already - that they help me a lot and I love them and I don’t see them a lot in the summer.
Q: Do you have any goals – is there something you really want to do, learn or get better at – this summer?
A: I want to learn more multiplication. And I want to learn about rocks, and birds and nature.
Q: What is your favorite summer tradition?
A: Going to Cape Cod and s’mores, of course.
After this conversation I felt less emotional. Conversation and questions always soften the intensity of any moment. Our children offer us the gift of living in the present moment. It is up to us how often we allow ourselves to live in that moment with them. I hope to do a great deal of that this summer with my son.
Speaking with our children, asking questions and really hearing their answers is such an important part of our job as parents, and my job as a filmmaker. This summer, I want to be mindful of creating space for conversations with my son. And I know it will make our summer all the more joyful, and memorable, no matter how quickly it seems to go.
Freedom is a word that has come up a lot in the last week. As we gear up to celebrate our country’s birthday, we have gratitude for the freedoms we have in this nation. They feel meaningful, important and unifying.
In the last week, thoughts about freedom have felt even more significant in celebrating the United States Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. Over the years I periodically have participated in gay pride celebrations, but this year I decided that it was important to bring my son to the Gay Pride parade in New York City.
I knew it would be fun, a big party, flamboyant and joyous. What I did not expect was the flood of emotions I would feel to be there. Every cheer felt soulful, every moment of applause extra vibrant. I wept and cheered and wept some more. And my son was in it with me. He laughed and we danced and he cheered and was fully present in the celebration.
When I think about the fact that gay marriage will be legal for his generation and generations after that, without question - I feel overwhelmed with joy. It is incredible to think of a future where everyone can have whatever type of family they choose. This is the definition of freedom to me. We have so much to celebrate today and every day.
What does freedom mean to you? How do you celebrate it? How do you document that celebration?
I love any excuse to celebrate, especially one that honors our family. As far as fathers go, I hit the jackpot. And, to be honest I have struggled to write this because it is difficult to express how much my father means to me (and my son) within the limitations of a single blog post.
One of my favorite pictures ever - my father with his mother, Rose and my son
My father, Steve, is the perfect combination of attributes that make any parent an ideal one. He is quiet and strong, yet filled with enthusiasm. He is a hard worker and an excellent provider, yet is always present at every important event. He is an incredible listener, amazing husband, brother, teacher, colleague, friend and grandfather. His joie di vivre is infectious - he is always up for a new adventure or experience, yet loves his home and creating a home. My father is highly creative, generous and loving. Being in his presence is a gift.
My father has always made me feel like he had full confidence in me, and in my dreams. It has felt as if, in his mind, there is nothing that was impossible for me to do or be.
Watching him with my son has been nothing short of blissful. They both treasure their time together and my son often asks about my father… what he would think of something, what he is doing, where he is at any given moment.
So today, in honor of my dad, I celebrate all the fathers we love. The ones who work hard and play hard. The ones who bring joy to their children and to their families. Those who we are close to, and those who we have recently had the privilege of getting to know. Here’s to you!
I hope you feel as loved and as celebrated as you make us feel every day.
Honor the fathers in your life in a special way with a Father’s Day Portrait from Portraits that Move.
Last week I went to Ed Sheeran’s concert at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. I love his music and am always lifted and invigorated when I hear a talented performer give a live concert. At one point during the song, Sing, Ed had the whole audience participating in a round. I was in tears.
I think I cried because of his gift, I cried because I was filled with joy and was having a huge amount of fun. Most of all, though, I think I cried because it felt powerful to be part of a community creating something, even for one song. There was an intense feeling of belonging, of purpose and that the entire experience was bigger than any one person.
I feel that way about parenthood. We can’t do what we do alone and our children need more than just us. It goes beyond family; teachers, friends, doctors, clergy, and the people involved in our everyday communities are all part of the raising of our children. It is beautiful and part of the delicious recipe of what influences and inspires our children to be who they are.
With Portraits That Move, I am also trying to create that sense of belonging for parents. My hope is that when people see our videos, they will be able to relate, to laugh, to sometimes cry and to feel that they are not alone in the parenthood journey. I hope they can feel part of something with us. When we sit with our community, we feel wholly supported and that is deeply meaningful. It is a true gift.
Last week we shot some footage for a campaign of work we are doing with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. ALSF is an organization that raises money to fund childhood cancer research. Last year we created four videos for Alex's Lemonade Stand and this year we are creating more.
We had the opportunity to meet a little boy named Cole and his family who are ALSF heroes. Cole is 11 years old and in remission from cancer. Cole is a powerful kid. He has a huge smile and his zest for life is infectious.
The definition of hero is a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds or noble qualities. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation defines all the children that are battling childhood cancer, as heroes and I could not agree more. In my experience spending time with these children (or any other child batting serious illness) these children are motivated, filled with fun and grateful for their lives.
Being in their presence puts things into perspective. It makes you stop, take stock and assess things. Emotionally, it is the opposite of what one would expect. It is actually uplifting. These children are generous, open and kind. They take each moment seriously, which forces the same for those in their lives. They celebrate everything and joy radiates from them.
I can’t wait to share this video once we finish it and the others that will follow. I feel lucky to have met Cole, Edie, Kaela, Tony and others, and I so look forward to getting a moment to share in their joy and helping to fight the fight of childhood cancer in our own way.
I love holidays of all kinds. I think they are important times to stop, spend time with family and enjoy. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries I love them all and participate in each of them with vigor and excitement.
Once we have children, I think the small moments of life are even more important to celebrate. We can create small traditions in a daily way that mean something to us and to our children. I was recently traveling for several weeks. When I finally returned and had a Saturday with my son, I asked him how he wanted to spend it. He created the perfect day.
We started by having pastries at our favorite bakery (where we go every time we have a day like this.) We watched a movie, went to the bookstore, had some pizza and went for a long walk. We talked and snuggled and just enjoyed each other. It did not make up for the time I was away, but we were reconnecting and we both enjoyed it.
Chocolate croissant, my son's favorite (image via Flickr)
The bakery outing was a special thing that we do frequently, just the two of us. I was excited that he chose to start the day that way. In making that the start of our day, he showed me that the quiet, gentle time is important to him. It was something comforting, celebratory and fun. He needed the moment just as much as I did.
The rest of the day felt the same way- we both love movies, books and pizza. We held hands and felt close. We felt lucky to have this life and each other.
I’ve been traveling a lot for business lately and I am reminded of how important it is to stay connected to our children when we are separated by distance and how lucky we are to have technology that allows us to do so.
On my most recent trip to LA, my son and I took full advantage of Facetime, talking together once, and sometimes twice, a day. It is by no means perfect, and can be difficult to get your child’s attention when you’re not in the same room together (then again, it can be difficult to get their attention when you are in the same room together). But overall, I was so impressed by and appreciative of the way that Facetime helped us to connect while I was so far away.
Having an image and being able to look into someone’s eyes, makes it so much easier to connect with our kids. While it can be hard to have a real conversation over the phone with my son, Facetime helped us to connect with and really listen to each other. For him, at seven, the fact that it was digital and a little techy made it exciting and more fun than holding a phone to his ear.
More than any other time, these business trips have emphasized for me just how much of a role technology plays in keeping us connected and close. So often, parents bemoan technology and the ways it can fragment, or separate and certainly, this can be true, but in this crazy pace of life, we really are fortunate to have this kind of technology in that it can also keep us together.
They Need to Know You Are OK
One thing I have realized as a working mom who travels is that our kids need to know that we are safe and comfortable when we are away from them. My son needs to know that when I leave home I am not just out in the ether. Anything that we can do to help our kids visualize where we are and how we are, anything that provides context for them, helps to ease their minds – and gets them excited about the adventure we are taking, the adventure we are sharing with them as best we can.
My colleague Rebecca sent her daughter daily photos from our set and snapped pictures of the airplane before we boarded all of our flights. All of this helped her daughter to see that mom is not just away from, she is out doing, and she is happy to share that with her.
I Facetimed my son from my hotel room every morning (in spite of the time difference that had me up before 5 am) and took him on a tour so he could see the desk where I was working and the view from my window. He could see what I see and know what I am doing. We could share moments with each other.
We Need to Know They Are OK
The challenges of business travel for working moms are not limited to managing the emotions, and the expectations of our kids. We need to feel anchored to our children, to know that they are safe and well and thriving. Knowing this makes it easier to be fully present in our work. It provides us comfort and security. It is essential to the success of our work.
My son’s annual field day was held while I was away and I was struggling a bit, knowing I would miss it. But his dad shot video of him jumping hurdles and playing with his friends and sent them to me. He recorded my son’s messages to me. I cherished all of it.
The videos made me feel connected and helped me to feel confident that, no matter what, my son and I share a bond. And that I can still celebrate in his joys, even when I’m not right there on the sidelines.
To all the moms, grandmothers, special aunts, godmothers and everyone of you who loves and cares for children, we wish you a Happy Mother's Day filled with the joy, pride and love that you find in your children every day.
No matter how you celebrate this weekend, remember to choose joy and remember how loved and appreciated you are. And how much everything you do matters. We are grateful for you and to be among you.
Thank you, moms. Happy Mother's Day!
With HUGE love,
Susannah
My first Mother’s Day was a huge celebration. I felt triumphant - I had birthed a child who was now almost six months old. He was delicious and smiley and I felt profoundly lucky to be celebrating. I was celebrating the daily successes of motherhood with the bigger, deeper celebration of becoming a mother - something I always knew I wanted, but wasn’t sure I would ever get to have.
Early motherhood was intense. I was, of course, exhausted on a daily basis. I felt like I was supposed to know everything about my son immediately. Initially, I didn’t understand his different cries and what my new baby was trying to tell me. There were months of insecurity, but ultimately, with time and patience, we figured it out.
By the time Mother’s Day rolled around, my son and I had developed our own language. We understood each other and I was proud of how far we had come. I was ready to be pampered. I wanted some space to have time with myself. I felt strong, accomplished, and deserving of the indulgences the day allowed.
Now, seven years later, the meaning of Mother’s Day is different for me. It is less about having time away and being pampered and more about settling in, enjoying the moment and staying close to my son. These seven years have flown by.
Now, celebrating Mother’s Day is more a recognition of how he is growing, of what is working for him, in our home, in our life together. It is a time to assess, reflect and think about how much we bring to each other and how rich our life is as mother and son.
I am so fascinated by what interests him and the way he thinks. I am often in awe of his sense of humor, his bravery and his skills with math. He is strong, yet gentle; loud yet introspective; silly, yet studious. He loves his friends and loves playdates , videogames and reading. He is clear in his thoughts and in his voice.
I feel grateful to get to share this life with my son. I get to be present with him and for him and I hope to give back to him all that he brings to me and to those around him. This is so much of what we do at Portraits that Move. We give moms – and dads – the gift of celebration. The gift of seeing, hearing, learning from and enjoying the voices of our children as they grow, inspire and teach us.
At Portraits that Move, we want to be the mirror to share and show the joy, to express the closeness and richness of parenthood and the profound experience of watching our children develop.
For a special gift of celebration this Mother's Day, give the gift of a moving Portrait and take the time to watch it together this year, next year, and on the Mother's Days to come.
I was 36 years old when I had my son. I always knew I wanted children, ideally, lots of them. I babysat at a young age, taught at camps and felt energetic and excited whenever I had the chance to be in the presence of children.
I spent my twenties and thirties building my career. I love my work and I always have. I am driven and passionate about being a filmmaker. I have been lucky enough to have worked on incredible projects, with talented, inspiring people.
By the time I was 36 I had been on the team of four narrative, theatrical films and I had produced documentaries for PBS, MSNBC, Ovation TV, Court TV, IFC and other networks. I had won a producing fellowship at Sundance, had produced countless corporate videos and commercials and had several big projects in development.
I was so invested in my work that I took on the production of a documentary, Close-Up Photographers at Work, 8 weeks before my son was due and it aired 4 days before his due date. I loved that project and thankfully, my son was patient. He arrived two days late, so I had a couple days of downtime before he arrived. I think he and I were always in sync - even then.
As all parents know, once my son was born, my world got turned upside-down. I fell madly, deeply in love with him and at the same time, I felt incredibly panicked about how out of control my life seemed.
I wanted to be with him all the time, yet I felt pulled back to my work. Ultimately, I found an amazing balance and it worked out beautifully for both of us.
And as both my son and I grew, I realized that being a producer is excellent training for becoming a parent. As a producer you need to do the following things, all of which prepare you for the challenges and responsibilities of parenting:
A well thought out schedule is the backbone of any good production. As a parent, planning and structure are important. Children thrive when there is a rhythm and a familiarity to their lives.
Things change in production all the time. People change their involvement with the project. Things get started and then halted. Even weather can change a shoot unexpectedly.
It is the same with children; they have their own ideas, needs and intentions. And sometimes, as parents, we have to be ok with throwing our plans to the wind.
Producing is about collaboration. Once you have hired the best team possible, you have to do everything you can to support them in bringing all they are to the work they do.
The role of mother is exactly the same. You learn what your child needs, what makes them tick and how to encourage the most authentic manifestation of who they are.
Whether I am in conversation with a director, client, crew member or my son, I listen with my full attention. I want them to be heard and to know their voices and opinions are important.
Lilah tells us at she loves out her mom as we kick off our Mother's Day celebration.
It is in collecting thoughts and creating an environment of trust that the best films and the best parenting happens.
Films and children have their own paths. It is not my job to define what that path is, but to gently support and suggest things along the way. It is not up to me, entirely, when a film gets released or what my son’s interests are.
I can listen to what the film tells me and heed the cues my son gives me.
With films it is the director’s responsibility to dig deep and tell the truest story possible. With parenting, our responsibility is to accept and love our children exactly as they are. In both cases, it is critical that a platform is created for this acceptance and love.
I work hard to do this every day with my son and with Portraits That Move.
Since having my son, I have made some of my best work, On Mediation, Kings Point, Boomtown and many more. Now, with the work we do here at Portraits that Move, creating documentaries for families, I am so thankful to get to do this every day, to get to be a mother to my son and to have both of these worlds so intertwined, informed and strengthened by each other.
I love my business. I am excited to do the work that we do. I am inspired, energetic and moved by our work, but being an entrepreneur challenges me in all kinds of ways, some positive, some negative.
There are long hours, financial concerns, marketing hurdles and other challenges. It can feel relentless. I never feel like the work is done and I always feel a sense that I should be doing more, working harder. Sometimes I feel consumed by the business and distracted by it. I worry that building a business is taking me away from the most important part of my life, my son.
I don’t really believe in worrying in general as I don’t think worry actually buys us anything, so when I start to feel that way, I try to refocus my thoughts and come up with the positive things he is learning and experiencing as the son of an entrepreneur.
Here are some of them:
1. He is learning that hard work can be fun. I laugh a lot while I am working. I talk about how much I love my work with Portraits that Move and my son sees that.
2. We can make our own dreams come true and that we should be fearless about it. I had an idea for this business and I went for it. It is working out for me and he is witnessing that. I believe that taking risks is important and the decision to create this business is a risk that has been incredibly rewarding.
3. Collaboration is necessary. My son has gotten to know many of the people that are on our team. They love him and he loves them. The collaborations feel good. They are fruitful and nourishing.
4. He knows about the finances of business. I am an obsessive Shark Tank watcher. We watch many episodes together and he has a better understanding of the finances of business at 7 than I did into my early twenties. He also has gut instincts about why a business may work or not and it is exciting for me to see his clear-headed decisiveness.
5. Life can be balanced (I hope!) I work really hard and from my home, so while my son does witness me working all the time, I still make dinner every night, host many playdates and make it to most events at school. I feel lucky to be able to create a balance and to make my own choices about my schedule.
6. There is always more to learn. I am constantly pushing myself to learn about new approaches to the work we do, new business ideas and innovative strategies. I never rest or feel like we have done it all or like I know it all.
7. We can lead with our hearts and feel good about who we are. Portraits that Move is a business built on the concept of joy, of family closeness and connection.
It is not surprising that I would build this type of company as I am a heart-centered person who appreciates and celebrates all of the joy that family brings. I created a company that reflects who I am and we are thriving. I am excited to do this work every day, and my son witnesses that and participates in it.
Recently on our walk to school, I asked him about what it means to have an entrepreneur mom, and what it means, specifically, to have Portraits that Move in our lives.
He paused for a second and said,
“I feel great about it Mom.”
“Why?” I asked, “Tell me more.”
“Well,” he said, “Portraits That Move is great because it makes US really happy.”
It certainly does. And it is my privilege to share that joy with each one of you. To help your children share their voices and to create a space for the conversations we most want to have, those conversations in which we learn as much from our children as we can ever hope to teach them, by our hard work, every day.
Continue to join me on this journey building a business and sharing joy.
Staying present is hard. I am a planner, a list maker, a person who loves structure and organization. It is hard to be a planner and also to be a person who lives in the moment. The planner part of myself takes over. It keeps the list close, has an ongoing LOUD voice that reminds me of all I have do to do every day.
I feel good when I listen to that voice, when I accomplish and check things off.
The deeper, quieter, more soulful part of myself is more knowing. She knows that we have this one moment, this one breath, that it can be taken quickly and over before we know it. She knows from experience how short life is and she whispers to the planner, “slow down, enjoy, be in this moment, savor it… you have this time, this now, this moment, this chance.”
The planner usually wins out over the voice that reminds me to stay in the present. But it is a battle every day, every hour. I think most moms feel this way.
The strength it requires to listen to the voice that keeps us in the present and still feel relaxed when the house is a mess, dinner is not made, work is not done… is some powerful strength.
But it is right. This voice, she is wise and soulful and I want to listen to her more.
I once heard that what a person teaches is what they most need to learn. I think that applies here. With Portraits That Move, we attempt every day to listen to the voice that keeps us in the present. We want to give you that, because once you see and feel and experience a moment of calm presence, a moment of that simple joy, you want more.
Our team, made of professional filmmakers committed to this idea, documents for you the feeling of the present so you can watch the videos and laugh and cry with your children and remember the choice we have every day, every hour, every now.
Please enjoy the gift we are so pleased to share with all of our clients every day. Now, I am going to go snuggle with my seven year old, while I still can.