This is one way to use photography to change everything: your life, your perspective, your art.

It’ll wreck you and remake you.

It’ll leave you breathless and reaching for something real.

Substance. Relationship. Connection.

Hold on. Let go. Tell your story.

battle breast cancer Stunning Black and White Photography Project

teen girl joy You Only Live Once

Not my words… the words of a bold and brave teen girl you may remember from the Teen Identity archives… Taylor. She was the star of “2 Minutes with Taylor” and continues to live life with gumption.

She’s got bravery in her bones and courage in her cortex.

We’re all different. Embracing it makes you better and brighter, and definitely less bitter.

What sets you apart? teen girl freedom 682x1024 I Laugh Because Youre All The Same

MOM QUOTE1 What Moms Really Need

Happy Mothers Day!

Please take time to breathe today… time just for you.

Time to celebrate your commitment to the best for your children.

Time to remember the way you give of yourself to raise up others.

Time to let go of the past and start fresh again…

with compassion, kindness and generosity of spirit for yourself.

You know you have a hit when 3 million people engage with your content in less than a week.

The words viral, explosive growth, and success are probably ringing in your ears.

That’s how it worked for this video…which given the numbers you’ve probably seen. this is water speech Creating an Instant Hit

This is for the few who might have missed it elsewhere.

It’s worth watching.

Here’s the scoop on it:

In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College (one of the colleges I visited on my senior year college tour!). His speech didn’t become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death.

The Glossary made the video built around an abridged version of the original speech, with the hopes that the core message of the speech could reach a wider audience.

You can listen to the full speech at Brain Pickings.

The tragedy of life is not death… but what we let die inside of us while we live.

Norman Cousins

Wish I had seen this a couple years ago when I was entrenched in the Teen Identity fight against over-sexualization of teen girls in high school portraits (senior portraits, pageant portraits and otherwise).

The message is not simple, as we would like it to be. The answers are complex and require courage and persistence. But his words bring hope, a new perspective, and a clear call to men … the ones we know and love, the ones who know and love us … to take a stand, speak up and fight back.

Watch it. Share it. Live it.

brilliant women Daily Transformation is Possible

You know it’s true. You witness it in your own mirror.

So if we’re capable of daily transformation on such a visible level, surely we are capable of the internal transformation we crave.

Am I right? Or am I right?

Be brilliant.

Find what you love and let it kill you.

James Rhodes

Golden light shines off the dark wood floors.

elizabeth gilbert library Elizabeth Gilberts Sky Library

Books line every shelf. Continue Reading…