Well, it is 11pm and I have had less than two hours of sleep and I just remembered that I don’t have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow morning. I began to size images from one of last week’s senior sessions to prepare a blog of beautiful portraits, but I paused. Because, yes, I could absolutely fill tomorrow’s post with wonderfully lit senior portraits and talk about how much I love my sweet clients and pretend I DIDN’T stay up until midnight cranking out a blog post that I had forgotten about. Or, I could share a piece of my heart. And I feel like I haven’t done that in awhile…so here goes nothing. 🙂

This post is for all of us. The college student who is cramming to finish their last paper before break. The business owners who are cranking out constant work during busy season. The moms who are prepping for the upcoming holidays. We are all in the same place. And we are TIRED. Yes, hustle is beautiful and it is necessary and it is encouraged. But it is NOT glamorous. It may look like beautifully styled Instagram photos, perfectly curated portfolios + a wonderfully busy lifestyle but in reality it’s 3 days worth of dry shampoo, exhausted puffy eyes + late night mental breakdowns with big bowls of ice cream. It’s missing time with loved ones during holiday season because we’re huddled over our laptops until 2am. It’s sore feet, a stressed mind and an ever-growning to-do list. I am SO immensely thankful for this season of life, but I also don’t ever want someone to look at my Instagram and think “wow, she has it all together”. Because that is far from the truth and that is not fair. Yes, I am working hard and yes, I go to ridiculous lengths to have a pretty Instagram feed. But I always want to take the time to show you that my life is REAL. It is sometimes raw and ugly and unorganized and more than I can handle.  And that is OKAY.

During this time of being overwhelmed and stressed, pause and breathe. You are doing an INCREDIBLE job. Your hard work and hustle and tired eyes are going to pay off and you are making this dream HAPPEN. I am so, so proud of you. You are not alone and you never will be. We are all in this boat together. But, I want this blog post to be permission to take a break. To breath. To put your laptop down and to love on your family. To take an hour to read your favorite book, relax in a bubble bath or go for a run. The to-do list is never going to stop growing. Find peace in the madness and know that what you are doing is WORTH IT and good things come to those who hustle.

I am logging off of the blog for the rest of week to soak up a few days off with my family for the holidays and I hope you do, too! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! XO!