virginia is for lovers
finding home and home making
Home is what you make it. It’s made of feelings, memories, moments, people, textures, time passing by. Home has been the number one theme I’ve thought deeply about and tried to make meaning of for years. I have certain friends I feel completely at home with. And I feel at home with my parents and my brother.
No matter how much we may all act out, disagree, annoy each other… we know each others’ best and worst. We’re lucky to have a family dynamic and bond that runs strong and deep, in spite of all the rocky things families go through.
Most of my photos taken outdoors nowadays are taken by my mom. She is a private person but I appreciate her amazing eye, insightful advice, and emotional support on my journey of creative expression. Love you Mama!
uprooting, re-planting, nesting, blooming
I now live in yet another new city and state! Ever since I left my childhood home, I’ve moved homes every single year. Throughout college in Athens, Georgia, I lived in two dorms, a house and a townhome. After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles. There I crashed with a family friend, then in an Airbnb, and then lived in two different apartments. I then headed to the Brooklyn borough of New York City, where I lived in a tiny Bushwick bedroom without windows, and later a lovely spot farther out in Bed Stuy.
And now, I’m back home with my parents. Except I’m not actually “back home,” because they too moved, and now live in Virginia. So after a relatively quiet stable childhood in Georgia, it’s been a lot of adjusting. Always moving, shedding old layers, nesting anew, and so on.
It’s become a regular rhythm for me. And yet it has new ups and downs each time. The phrase “a pattern of chaos” comes to mind — it’s something my friend Taylor recently said in one of our conversations, not in reference to me, but I’ve been turning that thought over in my mind ever since.
This, too, is temporary. This, too, shall pass. I’m unsure of where the wind will take me next. But the most important thing I’ve learned so far is that all of this is temporary. Life is a constant balance of trying to become as comfortable and patient and at home as you can be in any given moment… And also as ready as you can be for the next thing the universe throws at you, or gently guides you toward.
OUTFIT
Natalie Martin Collection blouse
Bliss and Mischief Major Arcana Embroidered Jacket
Doen Melody Jean in Verneuil Wash
Mohinders Solid Slide in Natural Leather
Vintage wooden bag from The Chartreuse Women
