Eclipse Goddess | Chilliwack Creative Photographer

What feels like ages ago I did this beautiful shoot at Cultus with Siobhan D’Souza from Shiverz Designs, Audra and makeup artist Kayla Marie. This was just before the flooding started - we shot this on the day the rain began and editing went to the wayside as everything unfolded over that tough time for so many - I love going back through shoots like these and trying new things with them, so here are fresh edits! This shoot was such a bright spot in that time - it was also right around the time of the eclipse, so we named this series, “Eclipse Goddess”.

This is my favourite kind of weather to shoot at the lake in (minus the torrential rains) because everything is so rich and moody looking

Makeup by Kayla Marie and Shiverz Designs, expert leaf throwers

Wanders in northwestern Ontario... | Chilliwack Photographer

Friends, I left the province for the first time in 6 years a couple weeks ago and it was so needed. There’s something about dipping your feet in Lake Superior, seeing fireflies under midnight skies, and sticking buttercups under your chin that just makes you feel like coming home to yourself.

I did so much - I’d forgotten the glow of country stars, how these little copper moths line the gravel roadways of Murillo and Conmee and spring up around you with every step, how Robin’s Donuts makes chocolate and coconut Robin’s eggs and they’re delicious.

And out in the family orchard, we spread some of my dad’s ashes under a red atlas apple tree. He would have loved that so much.

I took his luggage along with me, too, with a luggage tag proudly saying he’d visited Hawaii and his name and address spelled out in block capitals. I miss his writing. I miss his words and wisdom. Grief is something you always carry - even if it gets less heavier, sometimes, over time. I felt my dad with me every step of the way - but that’s like here, too. I don’t think those we love are ever far.

It was such a healing trip, and there is so much I’m healing and have been for so long. The last 5 years have passed like a blur and they’ve carried so much heaviness, so much loss, both for my family and for Jamie’s. We’ve lost 4 family members in 2 years, cancer, the pandemic, health. I felt something heal in me when I put my feet into the lake, when I travelled the old pathways me and my best friend Melissa struck out on 20 years ago. When I lay on the rocks and the gravel and felt so supported by the earth. What a beautiful thing to experience nature in these ways. I am so grateful I was able to do this.

The rest of the summer is stretching out before me and I have so many plans - mostly on healing & new projects. Sometimes that intersects. Often it does, because photographing & sharing things in these spaces is therapeutic for me, too.

I’m still taking submissions for Sourcing Joy and Grief Houses, you are so welcome to participate and there’s no fee to do it - these will be photo essays as a heart project of mine.

The pathway I’ve walked on for 20+ years, Lowkey taking a cozy snooze, feeding chickens, a butterfly with a broken wing, “Pride Lives Here” on my cousin’s house, a field of purple clover

The spot where we laid my dad’s ashes, and my cousin Melissa wandering her garden during golden hour, and Lilia and Lowkey in the field at midnight under a full moon

The Murphy House, my old dream house, as seen from the laneway, a copper moth resting on a wild daisy, my cousin planting marigolds at our grandparents’ grave, my goddaughter holding a small bouquet of wildflowers, making prints in the sun with Frankie and yard blossoms.

Sourcing Joy | Photo Project | Chilliwack Photographer

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I loved my "How We Self Care" series in 2019. Following people sharing stories around how they cared for themselves was beautiful and soothing and I loved every single moment of documenting these sweet lives living, even while recognizing that self care exists within a privileged space - it's not accessible to all. Between dealing with illness and then the pandemic, along with questions that were rising up for me around accessibility and the term "self care", this project kind of fell to the wayside. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the term "glimmers", it's kind of in the neurodivergent wheelhouse - instead of focusing on problems, focus on the glimmers - what shines, what invites, what works. Joy feels this way to me - I think, maybe especially as a neurodivergent person, that I look at joy in these layered ways. I feel joy when I look outside and see a storm rolling in, the wind picking up, the leaves on the trees swaying. I feel joy when I connect with other humans and make art with them. When I see a great wildflower patch. When I get into flow. When I can be cozy, piled up with blankets, watching terribly good scary movies on my couch. When I'm photographing something that just feels like MAGIC with every button click. The list goes on and on and on. In the same way that you can train your brain to look for glimmers, the same can be said for joy - the more you look for it, the more you find it, the more space you make for it - even when joy itself can be complex and sometimes challenging to source. 

This new photo project focuses on that, on joy and how we find it. Sometimes we make it. Sometimes we engage with it. Sometimes it stumbles across us, flies through us, in a random moment of the day. 

I'm looking to create a series of photo essays this July onwards around sourcing joy - what brings you joy? What feels joyful? These will be photographed at a go with the flow pace and work best around a process or activity - something that can be documented in a number of frames. Submit your idea through the website here. I'll respond to every submission, whether or not it's been chosen, within one week so check your junk mail! If you don't hear back from me reach out again as I won't have received it.

This project is open to all - LGBTQia2s+ welcome. If you’ve participated in How We Self Care, 24 Stories, or other photo projects you’re absolutely welcome to participate with this as well. This project is also very attuned to accessibility - please let me know how I can support you & assist with any potential barriers around participation.

The project is free to participate, you can support this and projects like it by becoming a patron.

Reconnecting to the Creative Heartbeat Workshop | May 25, June 8 & June 15

I'm so excited to announce a new 3 part workshop/gathering open to all levels of creative from any medium all about uncovering and connecting to what sparks for you! Whether you're searching for inspiration or want to explore your creative self, these workshops make space for experimentation and compassionate growth, all with a goal of developing a piece/project to share at the final workshop.

These will be happening on Thursdays, starting May 25, and continuing on June 8 and June 15, outdoors at Gwynne Vaughan Park in Chilliwack. Cost is $100 per person, which includes all 3 workshops.

For more information, check out the event and to sign up visit the event page here: https://www.sarahsovereign.com/reconnecting-to-the...