January 04, 2016

2015 Year In Review + 2016 Mega Goal Setting

January 04, 2016/ Lorna Stell

If you're anything like me, you LOVE the feeling clarity gives you. A sense of relief and renewed purpose. A sense of readiness, like you've just rediscovered your footing on unsteady ground. And if you're anything else like me (in this case I hope not) you have an atrocious memory!

Thinking through the last 365 days was tough! I can hardly remember what I was up to each month (which is why I'm now glad I have things like social media, my blog, and business records to remind me what I did this year). In one of the many Facebook groups I'm in, someone asked in December about yearly goal-setting resources. I realized I hadn't intentionally thought about setting goals for 2016, so I gladly picked up some free goal-setting worksheets people recommended! I have never been a big "New Year's Resolutions" girl, but I think it's likely because I never had a realistic or practical way to set and keep track of those resolutions.

I'm excited to say the worksheets I discovered for 2016 are SO GREAT! In these resources are a plethora of questions that prompted me to dig deep into where I've been in 2015 and where I want to go in 2016—this includes both personal (health, family, friendships, etc) and business (social media, finance, time management, etc). I've seen other bloggers and entrepreneurs share their goals and accomplishments in a blog post before, and I never felt like I was at a point where I could share things so personal and vulnerable (what if I failed and everyone knew?!) This year, I decided to take the leap and just go for it.

December 07, 2015

Wholehearted | Failure

December 07, 2015/ Lorna Stell

At one point when I was talking with someone recently, I said "I don't even think about failure anymore." To be honest, I hadn't even realized that until I said it out loud, but it's true! This year I have learned to give myself so much space to be, and this is one of the ways it's paid off. It was such an unexpected relief to say this out loud, and have a reminder that life is all a process.

October 12, 2015

Personal Style | High-Top Black Sneakers

October 12, 2015/ Lorna Stell

If you know me outside the internet, you know I wear a lot of black. It's been my go-to color for over a decade, and you know what that means: Black never goes out of style! It's easy to match with nearly everything, and looks flattering on everyone I know. It can be unassuming, but can still contain so much depth through texture. I tend to wear wardrobe basics in black with one or two pieces of an outfit in an accent color (usually blue or red). Lately however, as the days have gotten colder, this has led to a predicament in my shoe collection.

September 28, 2015

Work-Life Balance | Information Overload

September 28, 2015/ Lorna Stell

I'll admit it: Sometimes I'm thorough to a fault. I'm a research nut. If I could read articles and learn new things all day, I probably would. So, when I decided to take the plunge and officially call my freelance photography work My Business, I was pretty pumped that this weird research habit of mine could be put to good use. Adopting the title of Entrepreneur opened up a whole new world of things to learn and skills to hone that I couldn't wait to take on!

You can probably guess what came next…my email starting to fill up with hundreds of daily newsletters, my desk becoming more and more covered by paper lists of "things to look into," and my mind becoming tired and spacey after hours of staring at a screen.

Can you relate to always feeling like there's "more," and not wanting to step away from your computer or phone screen for fear of missing something important?

If so, maybe it's time to ask: What am I doing about this to get closer to a healthy balance of work and life, and limit my screen time so I can be more present in the world around me?

September 21, 2015

Adventures in Maine | Part Two

September 21, 2015/ Lorna Stell

I'm excited to share the last two big sites we saw in the second half of the week, because I would recommend both of them! You might notice we spent a LOT of time in Acadia, and that's because it's huge (and really pretty)! It's much larger than I realized, and we could have probably spent our entire week here seeing different landmarks and hiking trails.

September 14, 2015

Adventures in Maine | Part One

September 14, 2015/ Lorna Stell

When I first discovered photography, my camera came with me almost everywhere, and I would explore and experiment with it non-stop. I feel so happy and refreshed to have gotten back in that headspace. I loved being in the moment with my craft and my favorite man in these beautiful landscapes. But, what's even more special is knowing that as a family, Andy and I will have these photos forever to remember this time in our lives, and the wonderful places we've been together. In this digital age, our lives seem to fly by so fast, and it's so easy to get pulled away from staying present with those we love. For me personally, these photos, and the trip itself, are a wonderful reminder to keep coming back to what's important.

August 10, 2015

Getting Organized: The Passion Planner

August 10, 2015/ Lorna Stell

I often have times in my business when I feel like my to-do list of things to tackle is SO long, and each thing is so big, I don't even know where to start. When I begin going down that thought path, you better believe I get a lot less productive! It becomes so much easier to put things off that just feel like "too much for today." I have really felt the need lately to get more organized and more focused in my work, and just haven't been happy with my level of productivity. I knew I'm capable of doing so much more and utilizing each day to the fullness of its potential. I could FEEL the potential in myself and my time, but didn't know how to get there!

So then I thought, "What if I tried using a planner again?"

August 03, 2015

Moving House and Creating A Home | Boston Day In The Life / Professional Portrait Photography Testimonials

August 03, 2015/ Lorna Stell

Disclaimer: I try to keep my personal "Wholehearted" posts separate from my photography-specific posts, but today's post is a little blending of the two…because sometimes, personal life and work life blend a little, and I think that's ok. So here's what I've been up to:

Andy and I spent the entire week the last week of July piling boxes in our car and taking trips to our lovely new apartment, all while sweating our faces off! It was an exhausting week, but waking up to my favorite person in a space that it finally feels right to call "home" is so worth it. We couldn't have done it without the help of some awesome friends, and without the courage to help each other take the leap into a big life change!

Since my life for the past week has been consumed with moving house and I've barely had time to get any new photos together for a more visual post, I thought I would share some awesome testimonials I received after a couple recent photo sessions! Everyone loves a good, sincere compliment, but I think these testimonials are even more than that—they show what the actual experience of a photo session is like, and why the investment in yourself (and sometimes your family too) is so worth it.

In contrast to the first section of today's post, houses and apartments come and go, but your personal story, and your family's interwoven stories, really are forever. As people, our internal memories, thoughts and feelings can be fleeting, but the visual and physical keepsakes of photographs solidify our stories and create a very special, shareable experience.

July 27, 2015

Wholehearted | Woohoo, We're Moving! / Eeeek, We're Moving...

July 27, 2015/ Lorna Stell

Today's post (as you may have guessed) is about a special announcement and awesome life change for My Other Half and I, as well as the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it. You may recall from my previous (and first) Wholehearted post that change sometimes totally freaks me out, and BIG changes pretty much freak me out 100% of the time. Change was hardly ever part of my world growing up, so when I became a young adult I had to figure out how to navigate it, and I'm definitely still in the process!

July 06, 2015

Wholehearted | On The Chopping Of Hair and the Fear Of Change

July 06, 2015/ Lorna Stell

Friends, I have something more personal to share today than the most recent photo work I've been doing. It's about my hair and my intense fear of change. Read on to learn more about my hairstyle changes through different phases of life, and the emotional journey I went on as I worked up the courage to get a pixie this summer. Before and After photos and tips to get prepared for your own haircut included!

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