Tati: A Modeling Portfolio

Today is my birthday. And as I sit here, swilling my coffee and thinking about my session with Tati, I'm overcome with a feeling of appreciation. A feeling so strong that I can't even put it into words.

I write a lot about appreciation. I appreciate this, or I appreciate that. So much so that, if you're one who's not really doing much appreciating at all, you may become slightly (all right a lot) annoyed at my Pollyanna view on life.

But appreciation, I feel, is so important. It gently steers us away from thoughts that can bog us down and hold us away from who we're really meant to be. By appreciating something - whether it's a pet, a good cup of vanilla flavored coffee, or a quiet morning with a good book - we put our minds in a place of peace, contentment, love, joy... At the exact moment that we're doing our appreciating, we're happy. And who doesn't want to be happy?

When we appreciate, we allow ourselves a small reprieve from the daily grind and all of the potential chaos that can go along with it.

Right now, I appreciate so much. I appreciate this past year, and all the wonderful dreams that have come to fruition. I appreciate the fact that these wonderful dreams have inspired even more dreams to blossom and bloom. I appreciate all the beautiful people that I've had the privilege to work with over these last few months, and how realizing my dreams will, I hope, help them fulfill theirs.

I appreciate that, at the start of my 33rd year, I'm able to say with one hundred percent certainty that I love what I do.

And speaking of beautiful people, let me introduce you to Tati. She knows how to appreciate. She knows how to laugh, have fun, and dream.

Tati, I think, knows a lot. (She does, after all, believe in six impossible things before breakfast.)

This gal is just starting her freshman year of high school and already she's fulfilling her dreams. (It also helps that she has a fantastic mom who supports her a hundred and ten percent, as well!)

Which leads me to wonder - if she's so good at realizing her dreams now, what's she going to be able to accomplish by the time she's 33? Now that's mind blowing.

Hmmm. I might have to have her autograph some of these photos...

___________________

"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink."
-- G.K. Chesterton