Don’t Give Up Project . Day 2

We stepped out of time as we know it during the second day of the Don’t Give Up Project put on by Jeremy and Ash of We are the Parsons. (You can check out the first day here) Stepped out of time and into days upon days and beyond weeks and months and years. A whole universe and more dwelt in that twenty four hours upon the mountain. The day swelled full and held more than words can tell. The souls that shared it together know and we will never be the same. The sun rises to quiches baking and fires stoked, new friends scattered about the lodge quietly greeting the day. We could not begin to dream of the magic it would hold . . .

As you can see from the image above, Jeremy Parsons is an exceptional photobomber! and he is a really good story reader . . . We were given  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller and Ash’s personal backstory with that book is incredible, beautiful, and heartwrenching all at once. The book is one of those sparks breathed into this world to help those that yearn and long to walk this journey well. I sit and sketch and scribble down notes as they pour out their hearts and invite us to share ours. It was if I could feel life being poured right down into my soul, already hoping I could take it home, spilling out joyous along the way.

They read how ” Nobody ever cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with out lives won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either.”

They read and they ask us WHY? Why do we do what we do, moment by moment in every aspect of our lives and the making of our art? We scatter about the lodge to sit with this query and listen for the answers. I have been asking this question in a round about way for awhile now but I don’t think I could have ever put my finger so simply on it as they did. Simply WHY? Why about everything! And I know I could not have even come close to answering this deepest of wonderings if I had not been in a circle of friends and artists that day high among the mountain peaks.

We come back together after simmering in our question marks. Our Whys spill out strong from pain and grief and lives that long to be more. Our Whys inspired by beauty unending all around and the quest to enter in and grasp it with our whole heart. Ash whispers hushed of the awe of heaven breaking into earth and our sacred duty to seek it out. Treasure seekers we all are on an epic quest. In her words I hearr what I wrote down a month before when Nate asked me to think of the images I want to make.

“I want to make images that are realer than reality.” I couldn’t quite explain it then, but now I can – heaven breaking through this glorious mess. The story we hoped was true – it is real.

Cozy with the purest of light streaming in we listen and talk, cry and laugh and meld further into fellowship. The bell is rung for lunch and we spill out onto the porch to find a grilled cheese bar like none other prepared by Dave and Jessi, amazing chefs, photographers of The Smiley Face Collective and parents to an oh so adorable baby girl. We mix and match our sandwiches and fill glasses with lemonade while chef Dave grills them up. I walk on clouds out to a big table nestled amidst green and leaves and grass behind our cabin home. My heart swells to bursting to find myself on long benches with good people, beautiful souls each and everyone. Soup is ladled and laughter rings and I just soak it all in. All the perfect moments. Gifts from God.

After lunch Jeremy and Ash grace us with the privilege of watching them work. They bring all of us (their Amish children 😉 along to watch as they meet with one of their beloved couples. I’m in awe as they revel in the newness of meeting and relationship and draw them in as if they are their oldest friends. It makes me want to be a better person. It makes me know I must be a better person to be a better artist. And I know none of it is possible without grace. This work is not something I can do, it is miraculous. I love how they teach us to block out the distractions and always seek after the miracle.

Immersed in the one of a kind story of this amazing couple, musicians and photographers extrordinaire, we walk out into golden light to play and capture at least a bit of it. Ash takes us into orbit, spinning through time and space and all the rich imagination that lies inside so we can step together into sacred spaces that are tread far too infrequently. I have no words for for what happens as they make images with such a beautiful couple, but it is raw and real and one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. So grateful to catch a glimpse.

Ash tells us how she gives them space to experience all the vast range of human emotions. Space that everyday life seldom affords us. Early in the day she had given me that space. Whispering that she would be sharing the words of a father who had lost his daughter and wanting me to know it was ok however I needed to respond. There have been too few times since loosing our Joshua that my grief has been given space to flow out and find it’s way beyond a broken heart. As I listened to a Father question God and come straight back to belief, I felt my tears stream down and the fists I clench so tight inside loosen. As he quoted a dear little hobbit “Will all the wrongs be made untrue?” I felt my disbelief wash away and peace solid and true take root. In that space, in that moment I knew it was time to leave behind questioning and no longer dwell in pain. It is time to celebrate all that has been, all that is and all that will be. This is what I long to do for others, enter their story and give them space to see all the dark and light lines that build their beauty amidst good and bad and everything in between.

By the way “y’all” those pictures up there in the woods with the wisps of light, that’s where the fairies live if you want to go looking for them 😉

So after watching the Parsons do their thing we break off into pairs to do a mini shoot of eachother and prepare one image to share that evening. I had the pleasure of photographing Kaley and I will share my images of her in their own post. Then we all straggle back up through fields and woods to the sounds and smells of dinner cooking. The dusk falls thick and satisfaction wraps round us as the light fades. We are full, full, full and we haven’t even eaten dinner together yet.

One more sneaky, kinda creepy photo bomb from Jeremy. I think we planned this one together actually so that probably disqualifies it from being a photo bomb, but who is to say…

Everyone huddles in the dark, reveling in our day and crafting an image each of each other. Little apples and glowing screens the only light as the crew crafts magic secretly in the kitchen. We sing Silent Night and a table drenched in candlelight is revealed. Donald Miller says we must “live good stories to tell good stories” and this is story at it’s best. Story and yet as true and necessary as my sons born into this world or my husband’s breath upon my cheek. My soul simply revels in flickering light, sitting next to deep souls, partaking sublime flavors. Magic. Miracle. Real, Truest Life.

Our hearts and tummies so full we flop down upstairs, lying in the afterglow of a day lived beyond itself as we seek to find. We see eachother through eachothers eyes as we share our images made in this night’s dusklight. We see and know and we rejoice to be known. This knowledge bringing us courage to never give up.

I am so very very grateful to The Parsons and everyone who created and lived this experience together. I will share our third and final day soon…

8-8-12 . 24-70mm + 85mm .  LR + VSCO2